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. 2023 Aug:2:100017.
doi: 10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100017. Epub 2023 Aug 12.

Psychometric properties of the revised children's anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) for autistic youth without co-occurring intellectual disability

Nasim Khalfe  1 , Amy R Goetz  1 , Erika S Trent  1   2 , Andrew G Guzick  1 , Orri Smarason  1   3 , Minjee Kook  1 , Sean Olsen  1 , Ana C Ramirez  4 , Saira A Weinzimmer  1 , Leandra Berry  5 , Sophie C Schneider  1 , Wayne K Goodman  1 , Eric A Storch  1
Affiliations

Psychometric properties of the revised children's anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) for autistic youth without co-occurring intellectual disability

Nasim Khalfe et al. J Mood Anxiety Disord. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Autistic youth often present with comorbid anxiety and depression yet there is a dearth of validated assessment tools. The Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) assesses internalizing symptoms but there is little psychometric data in autistic youth. Treatment-seeking autistic youth with anxiety or obsessive-compulsive symptoms (N = 74; age 6-14 years), and caregivers, were administered the RCADS-Parent, RCADS-Child, and assessments of internalizing, externalizing symptoms and social impairment indicative of autism. RCADS-Parent and RCADS-Child total anxiety scores demonstrated excellent internal consistency, and the six subscales demonstrated acceptable-to-good internal consistency. The RCADS-Child and Parent total anxiety scores were weakly correlated, and neither child age nor gender altered the strength of this association. Convergent validity was supported by moderate-to-strong correlations with clinician and parent-reported anxiety symptoms. Support for divergent validity was mixed. Results provide support for the RCADS-Parent and RCADS-Child as reliable, valid measures of internalizing symptoms in autistic youth.

Keywords: Anxiety; Assessment; Autism spectrum disorder; Reliability; Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression; Scale; Validity.

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