Psychometric Properties of the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) for Autistic Youth Without Co-Occurring Intellectual Disability

Authors

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

Publication Date

8-1-2023

Journal

Journal of Mood & Anxiety Disorders

DOI

10.1016/j.xjmad.2023.100017

PMID

37693105

PMCID

PMC10486182

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

9-8-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Anxiety, Autism spectrum disorder, Assessment, Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression, Scale, Reliability, Validity

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.