An adult version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-A)

Many questionnaires exist for measuring anxiety; however, most are developed for children or adults only, or do not capture symptoms of all anxiety disorders. The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a well-validated questionnaire for children, measuring symptoms of most anxiety disorders, but has not been validated for adults. The aim of the current study was to investigate the applicability of the SCARED for adults (SCARED-A). Participants were 175 females and 152 males, who were all included in a study examining the relation between parental rearing and anxiety in children and parents. All participants filled in the SCARED-A and the STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and the ADIS-IV-L (Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV Lifetime version) was administered. The internal consistency of the SCARED-A total scale was excellent, and acceptable-to-good internal consistencies were found for almost all subscales. The SCARED-A significantly correlated with the STAI and ADIS-VI-L, providing support for convergent validity. The SCARED-A was able to differentiate between participants with and without an anxiety disorder, and cut-offs for the total score were established. The SCARED-A may be a valuable instrument for future research to investigate intergenerational anxiety, and the course of anxiety development from childhood to adulthood. However, research is needed to replicate the findings in a more representative sample, to examine the test-retest reliability, and to establish cut-offs for the different subscales.