Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Child version (RCADS-Child)

Instructions:

Check the word that shows how often each of these things happens to you. There are no right or wrong answers.

Never Sometimes Often Always
1 I worry about things 0 1 2 3
2 I feel sad or empty 0 1 2 3
3 When I have a problem, I get a funny feeling in my stomach 0 1 2 3
4 I worry when I think I have done poorly at something 0 1 2 3
5 I would feel afraid of being on my own at home 0 1 2 3
6 Nothing is much fun anymore 0 1 2 3
7 I feel scared when I have to take a test 0 1 2 3
8 I feel worried when I think someone is angry with me 0 1 2 3
9 I worry about being away from my parents 0 1 2 3
10 I get bothered by bad or silly thoughts or pictures in my mind 0 1 2 3
11 I have trouble sleeping 0 1 2 3
12 I worry that I will do badly at my school work 0 1 2 3
13 I worry that something awful will happen to someone in my family 0 1 2 3
14 I suddenly feel as if I can’t breathe when there is no reason for this 0 1 2 3
15 I have problems with my appetite 0 1 2 3
I have to keep checking that I have done 0 1 2 3
16 things right (like the switch is off, or the door is locked)
Never Sometimes Often Always
17 I feel scared if I have to sleep on my own 0 1 2 3
I have trouble going to school in the 0 1 2 3
18 mornings because I feel nervous or afraid
19 I have no energy for things 0 1 2 3
20 I worry I might look foolish 0 1 2 3
21 I am tired a lot 0 1 2 3
22 I worry that bad things will happen to me 0 1 2 3
23 I can’t seem to get bad or silly thoughts out of my head 0 1 2 3
24 When I have a problem, my heart beats really fast 0 1 2 3
25 I cannot think clearly 0 1 2 3
26 I suddenly start to tremble or shake when there is no reason for this 0 1 2 3
27 I worry that something bad will happen to me 0 1 2 3
28 When I have a problem, I feel shaky 0 1 2 3
29 I feel worthless 0 1 2 3
30 I worry about making mistakes 0 1 2 3
I have to think of special thoughts (like 0 1 2 3
31 numbers or words) to stop bad things from happening
32 I worry what other people think of me 0 1 2 3
I am afraid of being in crowded places 0 1 2 3
33 (like shopping centers, the movies,
buses, busy playgrounds)
34 All of a sudden I feel really scared for no reason at all 0 1 2 3
35 I worry about what is going to happen 0 1 2 3
36 I suddenly become dizzy or faint when there is no reason for this 0 1 2 3
Never Sometimes Often Always
37 I think about death 0 1 2 3
38 I feel afraid if I have to talk in front of my class 0 1 2 3
39 My heart suddenly starts to beat too quickly for no reason 0 1 2 3
40 I feel like I don’t want to move 0 1 2 3
41 I worry that I will suddenly get a scared feeling when there is nothing to be afraid of 0 1 2 3
42 I have to do some things over and over again (like washing my hands, cleaning or putting things in a certain order) 0 1 2 3
43 I feel afraid that I will make a fool of myself in front of people 0 1 2 3
44 I have to do some things in just the right way to stop bad things from happening 0 1 2 3
45 I worry when I go to bed at night 0 1 2 3
46 I would feel scared if I had to stay away from home overnight 0 1 2 3
47 I feel restless 0 1 2 3

Description

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-Child) is a 47 item self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of depression and anxiety in children and adolescents aged 8 – 18. It consists of six subscales including separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SP), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). The RCADS-Child can be used to screen for and monitor symptoms of depression and anxiety. A parallel version of the RCADS-Child, The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale Parent version (RCADS-Parent) assesses the young person’s symptoms of depression and anxiety from the parent perspective and can be utilised in conjunction with the RCADS-Child.

Validity and Reliability

The RCADS-Child was developed by Chorpita and colleagues (2000). The scale was administered to 1641 children and adolescents in the community. Six factors were yielded, consistent with DMS-IV disorders of anxiety and depression, including separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalised anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder. The RCADS-Child has demonstrated good structural validity, reliability and convergent and discriminant validity (Chorpita et al., 2000). The RCADS-Child has also been validated in an Australian community sample (N = 405) of children and adolescents aged 8 -18 (de Ross et al., 2002). The sample was divided into two age groups, 8-12 years and 13-18 years of age.

Interpretation

A Total Anxiety Scale score (sum of the 5 anxiety subscales) and a Total Internalizing Scale score (sum of all 6 subscales) are derived, with higher scores indicating increased symptom severity. In addition, items are summed to obtain a total score for each of the six subscales. Subscale scores are converted into percentiles, based on age, compared to the Australian community sample (de Ross et al., 2002). A percentile score of 50 represents average levels of symptoms compared to age related peers, whereas a percentile above, for example, the 90th percentile indicates high levels of symptoms. Sub-scales are computed by summing the following items: Separation Anxiety: items 5, 9, 17, 18, 33, 45, 46 Social Phobia: items 4, 7, 8, 12, 20, 30, 32, 38, 43 Generalized Anxiety: items 1, 13, 22, 27, 35, 37 Panic Disorder: items 3, 14, 24, 26, 28, 34, 36, 39, 41 Obsessive-Compulsive: items 10,16, 23, 31, 42, 44 Major Depression: items 2, 6, 11, 15, 19, 21, 25, 29, 40, 47

Developer

Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L., Moffitt, C., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour research and therapy, 38(8), 835-855.

Number Of Questions

47

References

Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L., Moffitt, C., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour research and therapy, 38(8), 835-855.

de Ross, R. L., Gullone, E., & Chorpita, B. F. (2002). The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale: A Psychometric. Behaviour Change, 19, 2.

Developer Reference:

Chorpita, B. F., Yim, L., Moffitt, C., Umemoto, L. A., & Francis, S. E. (2000). Assessment of symptoms of DSM-IV anxiety and depression in children: A revised child anxiety and depression scale. Behaviour research and therapy, 38(8), 835-855.

This content is licensed under a CC-BY license. The CC-BY licenses grant rights of use the scales in your studies (the measurement instrument and its documentation), but do not replace copyright. This remains with the copyright holder, and you have to cite us as the source.

Mohammed Looti, PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES (2023) Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Child version (RCADS-Child). Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/revised-child-anxiety-and-depression-scale-child-version-rcads-child/. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31575.96163

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