The Kutcher Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder Scale for Adolescents: assessment of its evaluative properties over the course of a 16-week pediatric psychopharmacotherapy trial

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the psychometric properties of a new clinician-rated scale designed to assess the severity of social phobia and measure treatment outcome in adolescents: the Kutcher Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder Scale for Adolescents (K-GSADS-A).

Methods: Two hundred fifty-one (251) adolescents (11-17 years; mean age 14.2 years) with DSM-IV social phobia enrolled in a multicenter, 16-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of paroxetine. Efficacy assessments were conducted at baseline and at weeks 4, 8, 12, and 16 with the K-GSADS-A, three other clinician-rated scales (including the Clinical Global Impression of Severity scale), and a self-rated social phobia scale. Additionally, the Clinical Global Impression of Improvement scale was administered at each postbaseline assessment, and the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised was administered at baseline and at week 16. These data were used to assess the internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and sensitivity to change of the K-GSADS-A.

Results: The internal consistency of the K-GSADS-A was adequate, and supportive evidence was obtained for its convergent validity with other severity measures, and its divergent validity with respect to depression. The K-GSADS-A also demonstrated good sensitivity to changes in severity.

Conclusions: These results suggest that the K-GSADS-A is a valid measure of treatment outcome in adolescents with DSM-IV social phobia.