Screen for child anxiety related disorders

Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (also known as SCARED) is a psychological questionnaire designed to identify and measure the severity of anxiety disorders in children. It is a self-report instrument, meaning that the child fills it out themselves, although there is also a parent version. The SCARED consists of 41 items and five factors: somatic/panic, general anxiety, separation anxiety, social phobia, and school phobia.

Overview

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) is a tool used by mental health professionals to identify and measure the severity of anxiety disorders in children. It was developed by Dr. Boris Birmaher, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The SCARED is a self-report instrument, meaning that the child fills it out themselves, although there is also a parent version. The questionnaire consists of 41 items and five factors: somatic/panic, general anxiety, separation anxiety, social phobia, and school phobia.

Development

The SCARED was developed in response to the need for a reliable and valid instrument to assess childhood anxiety disorders. It was designed to be easy to administer and score, and to be sensitive to changes in symptom severity over time. The development of the SCARED involved extensive research and testing, including a study of over 1,000 children and adolescents.

Use

The SCARED is used in both clinical and research settings. In clinical settings, it can be used to screen for anxiety disorders, to aid in diagnosis, and to monitor treatment progress. In research settings, it can be used to measure the prevalence of anxiety disorders in a population, to study the relationship between anxiety and other variables, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Scoring

The SCARED is scored on a 3-point scale, with 0 indicating "not true or hardly ever true", 1 indicating "somewhat true or sometimes true", and 2 indicating "very true or often true". The total score ranges from 0 to 82, with higher scores indicating greater severity of anxiety. A total score of 25 or above is considered indicative of an anxiety disorder.

Reliability and Validity

The SCARED has been found to have good reliability and validity. It has been shown to have high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. It has also been found to have good construct validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity.

Limitations

While the SCARED is a valuable tool for assessing childhood anxiety, it does have some limitations. It is a self-report measure, so it relies on the child's ability to accurately report their own symptoms. It may also be influenced by social desirability bias. Additionally, while it is sensitive to changes in symptom severity over time, it may not be as sensitive to changes in the nature or type of anxiety.

See Also

• Anxiety disorders
• Childhood anxiety
• Psychological testing
• Psychiatry

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