title: Structure, reliability, and validity of the revised child anxiety and depression scale (RCADS) in a multi-ethnic urban sample of Dutch children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although anxiety and, to a lesser extent, depression are highly prevalent in children, these problems are, difficult to identify. The Revised Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) assesses self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study examined the factor structure, internal consistency, short-term stability, and validity including sensitivity to change of the RCADS in a multi-ethnic urban sample of 3636 Dutch children aged 8 to 13 years old.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicate that the RCADS is a reliable and valid instrument. The original 6-factor structure was replicated to a fair extent in the present study (RMSEA = 0.048) and internal consistency was good (αs = 0.70-0.96). ICCs for short-term stability were 0.76 to 0.86. Girls and children who indicated wishing to participate in a program targeting anxiety and depression had higher RCADS scores. Sensitivity to change analyses showed that the RCADS can detect changes in anxiety and depression symptoms in children who participated in a preventive intervention. The study showed low agreement between teacher and self-reported internalizing problems, even for children scoring above the 90(th) percentile of the RCADS, indicating a high level of problems, emphasizing the need to also take child reports into account when screening for anxiety and depression in children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that the RCADS can yield reliable data on a diversity of anxiety disorders and depression in urban children aged 8-13 from very diverse ethnic backgrounds.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Netherlands Trial Register: NTR2397 . Registered 30 June 2010.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, Public Health Service of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 2200, 1000 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mkosters@ggd.amsterdam.nl.
authors.forename: Mia P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Kösters
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.chinapaw@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Mai J M
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chinapaw
authors.affiliation: NIVEL, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, P.O. Box 1568, 3500 BN, Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.zwaanswijk@nivel.nl.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zwaanswijk
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, Public Health Service of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 2200, 1000 CE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mvdwal@ggd.amsterdam.nl.
authors.forename: Marcel F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: van der Wal
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, VU University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.m.koot@vu.nl.|EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.m.koot@vu.nl.
authors.forename: Hans M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Koot
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014505:Urban Population