Overall three question naires were found robust in their measurement properties , the Spence Children 's Anxiety Scale , its revised version - the Revised Children 's Anxiety and Depression Scale , and also the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders .
Crucially the articles on measurement properties provided almost no evidence on responsiveness to change , nor on the validity of use of the tools for evaluation of interventions for children with ASD .
BACKGROUND Evidence about relevant outcomes is required in the evaluation of clinical interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) .
However , to date , the variety of outcome measurement tools being used , and lack of knowledge about the measurement properties of some , compromise conclusions regarding the most effective interventions .
OBJECTIVES This two-stage systematic review aim ed to identify the tools used in studies evaluating interventions for anxiety for high-functioning children with ASD in middle childhood , and then to evaluate the tools for their appropriateness and measurement properties .
The psychometric properties of the MASC in a pediatric psychiatric sample.
The goals of this study were twofold : to examine the psychometric properties of the  Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children ( MASC ) in a clinical sample of 193 children and adolescents who had received a diagnosis of major depressive or anxiety disorder , and to discriminate between these two groups of patients . Participants had volunteered in r and omized psychopharmacological clinical trials . The MASC four-factor structure was confirmed and its subscales were found to be reliable . The MASC correlated well with other self-report measures of anxiety , and less so with measures of depressive symptoms . The MASC subscales and two MASC items as well as age differentiated between anxious and depressed pediatric patients . If these results are replicated in an independent study , those items could be used by clinicians to discriminate between these two disorders . The MASC is a clinical ly useful measure to discriminate between anxious and depressed pediatric patients . Limitations due to the highly selective sample are noted
Overall three question naires were found robust in their measurement properties , the Spence Children 's Anxiety Scale , its revised version - the Revised Children 's Anxiety and Depression Scale , and also the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders .
Crucially the articles on measurement properties provided almost no evidence on responsiveness to change , nor on the validity of use of the tools for evaluation of interventions for children with ASD .
BACKGROUND Evidence about relevant outcomes is required in the evaluation of clinical interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) .
However , to date , the variety of outcome measurement tools being used , and lack of knowledge about the measurement properties of some , compromise conclusions regarding the most effective interventions .
OBJECTIVES This two-stage systematic review aim ed to identify the tools used in studies evaluating interventions for anxiety for high-functioning children with ASD in middle childhood , and then to evaluate the tools for their appropriateness and measurement properties .