State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- I feel very calm
- I feel calm
- I do not feel calm
- I feel very upset
- I feel upset
- I do not feel upset
- I feel very pleasant
- I feel pleasant
- I feel unpleasant
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) Test - Description and methodology of the test
For parents, caregivers, educators, and young people who want a clearer picture of anxiety, completing State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) Test separates feelings arising now from a more persistent tendency to react anxiously. It organizes observations around stress, worry, tension, and emotional responses, helping families discuss anxiety in children without reducing a complex experience to one score.
What This Assessment Explores
Rather than treating anxiety as a single experience, this STAIC questionnaire separates feelings arising now from a more enduring vulnerability to stress. Its themes include nervousness, tension, fear, worry, indecision, and bodily signs such as a racing heart, sweaty hands, or stomach discomfort.
Its two result dimensions are:
- Trait Anxiety (20–60) reflects a stable tendency to experience anxiety across situations; Low 20–30 suggests lower vulnerability, Moderate 31–45 indicates an intermediate level, and High 46–60 indicates more frequent or intense anxious reactions.
- State Anxiety (20–60) reflects current tension, worry, insecurity, agitation, and fear; Low 20–30 indicates lower present distress, Moderate 31–45 indicates an intermediate level, and High 46–60 indicates a stronger response to stress.
A result describes a pattern rather than a fixed identity. The distinction can clarify whether anxiety symptoms in children arise mainly from current circumstances, appear across situations, or involve both.
Methodology and Scientific Basis
Questions fall into two groups. Present-state prompts ask how the child feels right now, with three ordered responses moving from calm or positive feelings toward distress. Tendency prompts ask how often shyness, indecision, fear of mistakes, or worry occur, using choices such as hardly ever, sometimes, and often. This structure distinguishes temporary activation from recurring patterns.
The questionnaire converts responses into separate totals, with higher totals indicating greater anxiety within the relevant dimension. In this online anxiety questionnaire, some statements describe comfort or confidence and others describe distress, so interpretation should rely on completed totals rather than isolated answers.
The method is conceptually consistent with the published STAIC self-report instrument. Research on that instrument reports psychometric characteristics and norms in a defined school-age sample and examines its factor structure. This evidence supports the published instrument; it does not establish fresh norms or independent validation for every online presentation.
Because answers depend on self-report, current context, self-awareness, and candor, results should be read alongside the child’s circumstances when anxiety appears persistent or disruptive.
- Spielberger, C. D., Edwards, C. D., Lushene, R. E., Montuori, J., & Platzek, D. (1973). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children: Preliminary manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
- Papay, J. P., & Hedl, J. J., Jr. (1978). Psychometric characteristics and norms for disadvantaged third and fourth grade children on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6(1), 115-120. 10.1007/BF00915787
- Dorr, D. (1981). Factor structure of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Personality and Individual Differences, 2(2), 113-117. 10.1016/0191-8869(81)90005-2
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