Contribution de la Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders au dépistage et au diagnostic des troubles anxieux chez l’enfant d’âge scolaire

Children's anxiety disorders were for a long time viewed as poorly differentiated; however, many researchers recently brought evidence that syndromes similar to adult ones are clearly recognizable among very young children. The best instruments for diagnosing these disorders are time-consuming structured interviews like the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children (Kiddie-SADS). Is it possible to shorten the diagnostic procedure using “paper/pencil” questionnaires as diagnostic tests? The aim of this study was to test the diagnostic value of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), which comprises a self-report form and a parent-report form, and assesses four DSM anxious disorders. We examined 69 children aged 6 to 12 (36 boys) addressed to a school psychology facility using both self-report and parent-report SCAREDs and Kiddie-SADSs. Indices were defined, based on threshold-scores on the four SCARED syndrome scales. Theses indices all showed high sensitivity, but have different specificities: maximal for separation anxiety disorder, moderate for panic disorder and social phobia, but poor for generalized anxiety disorder. The SCARED-based indices performed well as screen for these four anxious disorders. In addition, they allow substantial time economy in the process of diagnosing separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia.