revised child anxiety and depression scale parent version rcads parent

Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent)

Instructions:

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

NeverSometimesOftenAlways
1My child worries about things0123
2My child feels sad or empty0123
3When my child has a problem, he/she gets a funny feeling in his/her stomach.0123
4My child worries when he/she thinks he/she has done poorly at something.0123
5My child feels afraid of being alone at home.0123
6Nothing is much fun for my child anymore.0123
7My child feels scared when taking a test.0123
8My child worries when he/she thinks someone is angry with him/her.0123
9My child worries about being away from me.0123
10My child is bothered by bad or silly thoughts or pictures in his/her mind.0123
11My child has trouble sleeping.0123
12My child worries about doing badly at schoolwork.0123
13My child worries that something awful will happen to someone in the family0123
14My child suddenly feels as if he/she can’t breathe when there is no reason for this.0123
15My child has problems with his/her appetite0123
16My child has to keep checking that he/she has done things right (like the switch is off, or the door is locked)0123
NeverSometimesOftenAlways
17My child feels scared to sleep on his/her own0123
18My child has trouble going to school in the mornings because of feeling nervous or afraid0123
19My child has no energy for things0123
20My child worries about looking foolish0123
21My child is tired a lot0123
22My child worries that bad things will happen to him/her0123
23My child can’t seem to get bad or silly thoughts out of his/her head0123
24When my child has a problem, his/her heart beats really fast0123
25My child cannot think clearly0123
26My child suddenly starts to tremble or shake when there is no reason for this0123
27My child worries that something bad will happen to him/her0123
28When my child has a problem, he/she feels shaky0123
29My child feels worthless0123
30My child worries about making mistakes0123
31My child has to think of special thoughts (like numbers or words) to stop bad things from happening0123
32My child worries what other people think of him/her0123
33My child is afraid of being in crowded places (like shopping centers, the movies, buses, busy playgrounds)0123
34All of a sudden my child will feel really scared for no reason at all0123
35My child worries about what is going to happen0123
36My child suddenly becomes dizzy or faint when there is no reason for this0123
NeverSometimesOftenAlways
My child thinks about death0123
My child feels afraid if he/she have to talk in front of the class0123
My child’s heart suddenly starts to beat too quickly for no reason0123
My child feels like he/she doesn’t want to move0123
My child worries that he/she will suddenly get a scared feeling when there is nothing to be afraid of0123
My child has to do some things over and over again (like washing hands, cleaning, or putting things in a certain order)0123
My child feels afraid that he/she will make a fool of him/herself in front of people0123
My child has to do some things in just the right way to stop bad things from happening.0123
My child worries when in bed at night0123
My child would feel scared if he/she had to stay away from home overnight.0123
My child feels restless.0123

Description

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent) is a 47 item parent-reported 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-P can be used to screen for and monitor symptoms of depression and anxiety. The parallel version of the RCADS is the youth self-report version (RCADS-Child) which can be used in conjunction with the RCADS-Parent.

Validity and Reliability

The RCADS-Parent was validated in a community sample of 967 parents of children and adolescents (Ebesutani et al., 2011). The RCADS-P demonstrated high internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and good convergent/divergent validity. Factor analysis revealed that it also supported the 6 factor structure of the RCADS-Child; separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalised anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder. The Ebesutani et al. (2011) study provides normative data for children between 8-18 years of age, and can be used to derive percentile scores.

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. Scores are converted into percentiles and compared to the community sample (Ebesutani et al., 2011). It is important to note that the percentile scores compare scores to the entire age group (8 -18). As scores vary significantly with age, derived percentile data should be interpreted with caution. A percentile score of 50 represents average levels of symptoms compared to the normative group, 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. & Spence, S.H. (1998).

Number Of Questions

47

References

Ebesutani, C., Bernstein, A., Nakamura, B. J., Chorpita, B. F., & Weisz, J. R. (2010). A psychometric analysis of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale—Parent Version in a clinical sample. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 38(2), 249-260.

Developer Reference:

Chorpita, B.F. & Spence, S.H. (1998).

Cite this article

mohammad looti (2026). Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/revised-child-anxiety-and-depression-scale-parent-version-rcads-parent/

mohammad looti. "Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/revised-child-anxiety-and-depression-scale-parent-version-rcads-parent/.

mohammad looti. "Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/revised-child-anxiety-and-depression-scale-parent-version-rcads-parent/.

mohammad looti (2026) 'Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/revised-child-anxiety-and-depression-scale-parent-version-rcads-parent/.

[1] mohammad looti, "Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.

mohammad looti. Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-Parent). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.

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