Sensitivity for treatment effects of the screen for child anxiety related emotional disorders

Abstract

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a relatively new self-report questionnaire that measures DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms in children. The present study examined the treatment sensitivity of the SCARED. Eleven anxiety-disordered children aged 10 to 13 years received cognitive-behavioral treatment, an intervention that is generally known to be effective. Children completed the SCARED on three occasions: (1) 3 months before treatment (i.e., baseline), (2) at pretreatment, and (3) at posttreatment. Before and after treatment, scores on traditional childhood anxiety measures (i.e., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Fear Survey Schedule for Children) were also obtained. Results showed that children's SCARED scores remained relatively stable from baseline to pretreatment. However, from pre- to posttreatment, significant decreases were evident for the SCARED and for all traditional measures. These results suggest that the SCARED reliably taps treatment effects and, thus, provide further support for its utility as a self-report index of childhood anxiety in clinical and research settings.