Assessing the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) in a National Sample of Danish Youth Aged 8-16 Years

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) in a National Sample of Danish Youth Aged 8-16 Years

AU - Esbjørn, Barbara Hoff

AU - Sømhovd, Mikael Julius

AU - Turnstedt, Clara Johanna Anneli

AU - Reinholdt-Dunne, Marie Louise

PY - 2012/5/23

Y1 - 2012/5/23

N2 - Early identification of anxiety among youth is required to prevent them from going unrecognised and untreated by mental health professionals. A precise identification of the young person's primary difficulty is also required to guide treatment programs. Availability of a valid and easily administrable assessment tool is crucial for identifying youth suffering from anxiety disorders. The purpose of the present study was therefore to examine the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). A total of 667 youth from community schools (4th through 9th grade) across Denmark participated in the study. The psychometric properties of the RCADS-DAN resembled those reported in US and Europe. Within scale reliability was excellent with Chronbach's alpha of.96. All subscales also showed good to excellent internal reliability. The study provides convincing evidence that the RCADS-DAN is a valid assessment tool for screening anxiety in Danish youth.

AB - Early identification of anxiety among youth is required to prevent them from going unrecognised and untreated by mental health professionals. A precise identification of the young person's primary difficulty is also required to guide treatment programs. Availability of a valid and easily administrable assessment tool is crucial for identifying youth suffering from anxiety disorders. The purpose of the present study was therefore to examine the psychometric properties of the Danish version of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). A total of 667 youth from community schools (4th through 9th grade) across Denmark participated in the study. The psychometric properties of the RCADS-DAN resembled those reported in US and Europe. Within scale reliability was excellent with Chronbach's alpha of.96. All subscales also showed good to excellent internal reliability. The study provides convincing evidence that the RCADS-DAN is a valid assessment tool for screening anxiety in Danish youth.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Psychometrics

KW - Anxiety

KW - Child Behavior

KW - Adolescent Behavior

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0037339

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0037339

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22649520

SN - 1932-6203

VL - 7

JO - P L o S One

JF - P L o S One

IS - 5

ER -