Skip to main content
Log in

What I Think and Feel: A Revised Measure of Children's Manifest Anxiety

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The 1956 adaptation for children of Taylor's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, was revised to meet current psychometric standards. A 73-item revision draft was administered to 329 school children from grades 1 to 12. Based on item-analysis criteria for r bis ≥ .4 and .30 ≤ p ≤ .70, 28 anxiety items were retained along with 9 of the original 11 Lie scale items. A cross-validation sample of 167 children from grades 2, 5, 9, 10, and 11 produced a KR20 reliability estimate of .85. Anxiety scores did not differ across grade or race. Females scored significantly higher than males. For the Lie scale, significant differences appeared by grade and race. No sex differences were obtained on the Lie scale. The resulting scale appears useful for children in grades 1 to 12 and may aid in future studies of anxiety as well as assisting the clinician in the understanding of individual children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Allison, D. E. (1970). Test anxiety, stress, and intelligence-test performance. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 2(11), 26–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychological Association. (1974). Standards for educational and psychological tests. Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bledsoe, J. C. (1973). Sex and grade differences in children's manifest anxiety. Psychological Reports, 32, 285–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyce, M. W. (1974). Student teacher misconceptions of manifestations of anxiety in children from different socio-economic/ethnicity backgrounds. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 10, 138–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, P. J., Richards, J. P., & Felker, D. W. (1975). Affective outcomes of evaluation strategies by self and another in children's learning from textbook material. Psychological Reports, 37, 311–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrier, N. A., Orton, D. D., & Malpass, L. F. (1962). Responses of bright, normal, and EMR children to an orally-administered Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Journal of Educational Psychology, 53, 271–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castaneda, A., McCandless, B. R., & Palermo, D. S. (1956a). The children's form of the manifest anxiety scale. Child Development, 27, 317–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castaneda, A., Palermo, D. S., & McCandless, B. R. (1956b). Complex learning and performance in children as a function of anxiety in children and task difficulty. Child Development, 27, 327–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chansky, N. M. (1966). Anxiety, intelligence, and achievement in algebra. Journal of Educational Research, 60, 90–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, I. L., and Cleland, C. C. (1963). Manifest anxiety of retarded and normals matched to academic achievement. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 67, 539–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donald, D. R. (1973). Anxiety in the relationship of group-acceptance to the academic achievement of pre-adolescents. Psychologia Africana, 15, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebel, R. L. (1965). Measuring educational achievement. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finch, A. J., Montgomery, L. E., & Deardoff, P. A. (1974). Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale: Reliability with emotionally disturbed children. Psychological Reports, 34, 68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanigan, P. J., Peters, C. J., & Conry, J. L. (1969). Item analysis of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale with the retarded. Journal of Educational Research, 62, 472–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudry, E., & Spielberger, D. (1971). Anxiety and educational achievement. Sydney, Australia: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guilford, J. P. (1954). Psychometric methods (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, R. E. (1968). Experimental design: Procedure for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitano, H. L. (1960). Validity of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and the modified revised California inventory. Child Development, 31, 67–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, R. B. (1975). Fundamental statistics for psychology (2nd ed.). Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melamed, B. G., & Siegel, L. J. (1975). Reduction of anxiety in children facing hospitalization and surgery by use of filmed modeling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 511–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merryman, E. P. (1974). The effects of manifest anxiety on the reading achievement of fifth grade students. Journal of Experimental Education, 42, 36–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muralidharan, R., & Sharma, A. (1971). Manifest anxiety in Indian (Delhi) children. Indian Educational Review, 6, 67–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palermo, D. S., Castaneda, A., & McCandless, B. R. (1956). The relationship of anxiety in children to performance in a complex learning task. Child Development, 27, 333–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck, R. F., & Mitchell, J. V. (1967). Mental health: What research says to the teacher. Washington, DC: National Educational Association of Classroom Teachers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, S. B., Davidson, K. S., Lighthall, F. F., Waite, R. R., & Ruebush, B. K. (1960). Anxiety in elementary school children. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanwyck, D. J., & Felker, D. W. (1973). Intellectual achievement, responsibility, and anxiety as functions of self-concept of third to sixth grade boys and girls. Paper presented at AERA, New York, 1973.

  • Taylor, J. A. (1951). The relationship of anxiety to the conditioned eyelid response. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 42, 183–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziv, A., & Luz, M. (1973). Manifest anxiety in children of different socioeconomic levels. Human Development, 16, 24–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziv, O., & Shauber, H. (1969). Contribution to a cross-cultural study of manifest anxiety in children. Human Development, 12, 178–191.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reynolds, C.R., Richmond, B.O. What I Think and Feel: A Revised Measure of Children's Manifest Anxiety. J Abnorm Child Psychol 25, 15–20 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025751206600

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025751206600

Keywords

Navigation