Psychometric multivariate techniques in clinical research: An approach to anxiety and depression constructs

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of factor analysis as a psychometric technique applied to clynical research in anxiety-depression disorders. Because of the simple explicative hypothesis adequacy in complex phenomenons studied by Psychology, multifactorial explanations has been more used than unifactor ones. This implies the necessity of using modern multivariate techniques, which permits a more precisely approximation to these cómplex phenomenons. This research takes into account seven of the most used scales in anxiety-depression disorders studies, which are analysed factorially, State Trait Ansiety Inventory of Children (STAIC), (GASC),(CMAS),(TASC), Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS), (CEDD, (EDIB). It stablishes a factorial structure, that allows a conceptual approach to the anxiety conceptual construct. This study was carried out over a sample of both sex, ranged eight-fourteen years patients attending to University Hospital, Department of Child Psychiatry from Sevilla.