Anxiety disorder symptoms in Chinese preschool children.

The present study investigated anxiety disorder symptoms in Chinese preschool children. A total of 1,854 mothers of children aged 3-6 years completed the 28-item Chinese version of Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS). Results demonstrated that the structure of anxiety in Chinese preschool children included five factors, and this five-factor structure applied to different age and gender groups. Inconsistent with the study by Edwards et al. (J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 39:400-409, 2010) suggesting that obsessive-compulsive disorder did not comprise an independent factor in Australian preschoolers, this symptom can be viewed as an independent factor in Chinese preschoolers. Younger children displayed higher anxiety levels than older children. Anxiety symptoms of Chinese preschoolers were found at a high level compared to other studies. Substantial differences were found with regard to the content of prevalent anxiety symptoms among Chinese and Australian preschool children. The applicability of the five-factor structure of PAS and research implications are discussed.