# Evidence-based assessment/Instruments/Screen for child anxiety related disorders

HGAPS is finding new ways to make psychological science conferences more accessible!
Here are examples from APA 2022 and the JCCAP Future Directions Forum. Coming soon... ABCT! ~ More at HGAPS.org ~
The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders, or SCARED, is a screening measure developed by Boris Birmaher (MD), Suneeta Khetarpal (MD), Marlane Cully (M.ED), David Brent (MD), and Sandra Mackenzie (PhD). It takes the intended users, clinicians and psychiatrists, 10 minutes on average to administer. It is a 41 question (originally 38 question), self-report, multiple choice questionnaire designed for children ages 8–18 to screen for anxiety disorders such as panic disorder (significant somatic symptoms), generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and significant school avoidance or refusal. The purpose of SCARED was to create a screening instrument that assesses general anxiety symptoms as well as screen for DSM-IV childhood anxiety disorders. There is a child and adult self-report version of the scale.
Each question measures the frequency or intensity of a variety of symptoms or behaviors and the questionnaire takes about ten minutes to complete. The participant is asked to answer each question with one of three possible answer choices: "Not true or hardly every true", "Somewhat true or sometimes true", or "Very true or often true". Through research, this assessment has been proven to be both valid and reliable. It has been

## Question breakdown, scoring and interpretation

The 41 question SCARED tallies points on the assessment by rating answers on a 0-2 scale.
* 0: Not true or hardly ever true
* 1: Somewhat true or sometimes true
* 2: Very true or often true

### Question breakdown

Each question is designed to identify symptoms of specific anxiety related disorders. The breakdown is as follows:
* Some anxiety disorder: questions 1-41
* Panic disorder or significant somatic symptoms: questions 1, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 24, 27, 30, 34, 38
* Generalized anxiety disorder: questions 5, 7, 14, 21, 23, 28, 33, 35, 37
* Separation anxiety: questions 4, 8, 13, 16, 20, 35, 29, 31
* Social anxiety disorder: questions 3, 10, 26, 32, 39, 40, 41
* Significant school avoidance: questions 2, 11, 17, 36

## Use in Other Populations

The SCARED assessment has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Tamil, Thai, Spanish, Czech, and Finnish, and these PDFs can be found here.
A meta-analysis of 25 studies from Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the US, South Africa, and China suggested that

## Scoring Instructions and Syntax
### Hand Scoring and General Instructions

On the questionnaire, an answer of "not true or hardly true" is scored as a 0, "somewhat true or sometimes true" is scored as 1, and "very true or often true" is scored as 2. A total score greater or equal to 25 suggests presence of an anxiety disorder.
Scores for Specific Anxiety Disorders :
| Panic Disorder or Significant Somatic Symptoms | Score of 7 for items 1, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 19, 22, 24, 27, 30, 34, 38 |
| Generalized Anxiety Disorder | Score of 9 for items 5, 7, 14, 21, 23, 28, 33, 35, 37 |
| Separation Anxiety Disorder | Score of 5 for items 4, 8, 13, 16, 20, 25, 29, 31 |
| Social Anxiety Disorder | Score of 8 for items 3, 10, 26, 32, 39, 40, 41 |
| Significant School Avoidance | Score of 3 for items 2, 11, 17, 36 |

## See Also

* For more information, please call Dr. Birmaher at (412) 246-5235 or via email:[Mailto:birmaherb@upmc.edu%7CEmail.
* http://pediatricbipolar.pitt.edu/resources/instruments