Validation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for use with adolescents.
BACKGROUND
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), developed for use with adults, has potential with adolescents.


OBJECTIVE
To test the HADS's validity with adolescents.


METHODS
The HADS was given to 248 schoolchildren and to 48 psychiatric out-patients and 38 deliberate self-harm in-patients aged 12-17, and validated against ICD-10 diagnoses for the out-patients.


RESULTS
The HADS has adequate test-retest reliability and factor structure, and discriminates between adolescents diagnosed with depressive or anxiety disorders and those without these diagnoses.


CONCLUSIONS
The psychometric properties of the HADS and its shortness make it useful for screening and in clinical settings with adolescents.
White
D
D
Wakefield and Pontefract Community Health NHS Trust, QED Department.
Leach
C
C
Sims
R
R
Atkinson
M
M
Cottrell
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity