title: The psychometric properties of the MASC in a pediatric psychiatric sample.
abstract: The goals of this study were twofold: to examine the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) in a clinical sample of 193 children and adolescents who had received a diagnosis of major depressive or anxiety disorder, and to discriminate between these two groups of patients. Participants had volunteered in randomized psychopharmacological clinical trials. The MASC four-factor structure was confirmed and its subscales were found to be reliable. The MASC correlated well with other self-report measures of anxiety, and less so with measures of depressive symptoms. The MASC subscales and two MASC items as well as age differentiated between anxious and depressed pediatric patients. If these results are replicated in an independent study, those items could be used by clinicians to discriminate between these two disorders. The MASC is a clinically useful measure to discriminate between anxious and depressed pediatric patients. Limitations due to the highly selective sample are noted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Center for Psychotherapy Research, Suite 670, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3535 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3309, USA. mrynn2@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Moira A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rynn
authors.forename: Jacques P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Sarosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalid-Khan
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Siqueland
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dembiski
authors.forename: Kevin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gallop
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results