  A theoretical investigation of the pulsation behavior of so-named
``anomalous'' Cepheids is presented. The study is based on nonlinear convective
pulsation models with $Z$=0.0001 and 0.0004, mass in the range 1.3-2.2 Mo and
various luminosity levels. Based on these computations, we derive period,
bolometric light curves and the edges of the instability strip, showing that a
variation of the metal abundance from Z=0.0001 to 0.0004 has quite small
effects on these quantities. Then, using bolometric corrections and
color-temperature transformations, we are able to provide the predicted
relations connecting pulsational properties (periods, amplitudes) with
magnitudes and colors in the various photometric bands. The theoretical
pulsational scenario is compared to observed anomalous Cepheids in dwarf
spheroidal galaxies and, in particular, the predicted mass-dependent
Period-Magnitude-Amplitude and Period-Magnitude-Color relations are used to
estimate individual mass values, as well as to discriminate between fundamental
(F) and first-overtone (FO) pulsators.
