TY - JOUR
T1 - Screening for childhood anxiety
T2 - A meta-analysis of the screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders
AU - Runyon, Katie
AU - Chesnut, Steven R.
AU - Burley, Hansel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/11
Y1 - 2018/11
N2 - Background: The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a commonly used instrument that evaluates anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents. Methods: This meta-analysis examined the psychometric properties of the SCARED instrument, including total instrument and subscale internal reliabilities for the parent and child versions, test-retest reliabilities, and the extent to which responses from the parent version correspond with responses from the child version. Databases reviewed included ERIC, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and Google Scholar Results: Responses to the SCARED instrument for children and parents using a mixture of the 38-, 41-, 66-, 69-, and 71-item versions of the SCARED were analyzed for 65 studies conducted between 1997 and 2017. The results from the random-effects models suggested homogeneity of variance for all the effects examined. The weighted averages of the psychometric properties indicated the parent and child versions of the SCARED have exhibited excellent internal consistencies on the total score, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and animal phobia subscales. Furthermore, the SCARED demonstrated moderate to large test-retest reliabilities and moderate to large parent-child agreement rates. The school avoidance, obsessive-compulsive disorder, blood phobia, and situational phobia subscales did not demonstrate reliabilities considered appropriate for a screening instrument. Limitations: Publications that could not be translated to English or could not be retrieved due to not being published or archived were not included in the analysis. Conclusions: Overall the child and parent versions of the SCARED have robust psychometric properties and perform consistently well in community and clinical settings across various countries. The SCARED is clinically relevant as mental health providers and researchers can use it during diagnostic procedures and to monitor intervention effectiveness.
AB - Background: The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a commonly used instrument that evaluates anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents. Methods: This meta-analysis examined the psychometric properties of the SCARED instrument, including total instrument and subscale internal reliabilities for the parent and child versions, test-retest reliabilities, and the extent to which responses from the parent version correspond with responses from the child version. Databases reviewed included ERIC, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and Google Scholar Results: Responses to the SCARED instrument for children and parents using a mixture of the 38-, 41-, 66-, 69-, and 71-item versions of the SCARED were analyzed for 65 studies conducted between 1997 and 2017. The results from the random-effects models suggested homogeneity of variance for all the effects examined. The weighted averages of the psychometric properties indicated the parent and child versions of the SCARED have exhibited excellent internal consistencies on the total score, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, social anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and animal phobia subscales. Furthermore, the SCARED demonstrated moderate to large test-retest reliabilities and moderate to large parent-child agreement rates. The school avoidance, obsessive-compulsive disorder, blood phobia, and situational phobia subscales did not demonstrate reliabilities considered appropriate for a screening instrument. Limitations: Publications that could not be translated to English or could not be retrieved due to not being published or archived were not included in the analysis. Conclusions: Overall the child and parent versions of the SCARED have robust psychometric properties and perform consistently well in community and clinical settings across various countries. The SCARED is clinically relevant as mental health providers and researchers can use it during diagnostic procedures and to monitor intervention effectiveness.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Children
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Psychometric properties
KW - Screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050869154&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.049
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.049
M3 - Review article
C2 - 30081293
AN - SCOPUS:85050869154
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 240
SP - 220
EP - 229
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -