Spence (1997) built and developed the items about 80 with the help of four experts.

developed to assess the severity of anxiety symptoms broadly in line with the dimensions of anxiety disorder proposed by the DSM-IV.

consists of 44 items, of which 38 reflect specific

symptoms of anxiety and 6 relate to positive,filler items (11, 17, 26, 31, 38, and 43) to reduce negative response bias.

4-point scale never=0, sometimes=1, often=2, always=3

Yield maximum possible score of 114

10 minutes to answer the questionsFREE! available at http://www2.psy.uq.edu.au/~sues/scas/

Overall measure of anxiety with 6 subscales tapping specific aspects of anxiety

USES OF THE SCALE

SCAS VALIDITY & RELIABILITY

SCAS RELIABILITY & VALIDITY

INTERNAL RELIABILITY COEFFICIENTS FOR TOTAL SCALE AND SUBSCALES BY AGE GROUP AND GENDER

NTotalScaleSepAnx Social Phobia OCD Panic/Ag Phys Injury GAD Boys 8-11 years 1172 .92.69.70 .71.80 .64 .73Boys 12-15 years 1214 .93.74.73 .76.84 .64 .76Girls 8-11 years 1185 .93.72.75 .75.83 .57 .75Girls 12-15 years 1345 .92.68.72 .78.81 .50 .78 Total Sample 4916 .93.74.74 .76.82 .60 .77

PARENT VERSION- SCORING SUB-SCALESChild Version- Scoring Sub-Scales

Sub-ScalesQuestions Generalized anxiety disorder 1+3+4+18+20+22Panic disorder 12+19+25+27+28+30+32+33+34Social phobia6+7+9+10+26+31Separation anxiety5+8+11+14+15+38Obsessive-compulsive disorder 13+17+24+35+36+37Physical injury fears 2+16+21+23+29

Sub-ScalesQuestions Generalized anxiety disorder 1+3+4+20+22+24Panic disorder 13+21+28+30+32+34+36+37+39Social phobia6+7+9+10+29+35Separation anxiety5+8+12+15+16+44Obsessive-compulsive disorder 14+19+27+40+ 41+42 Physical injury fears 2+18+23+25+33

T-score of 60 as indicative of sub-clinical or elevated levels of anxiety

SCAS Pre School (Parents & Teachers)SCAS Boys & Girls Aged 8-11SCAS Boys & Girls Aged 12-15

TH

ADVANTAGESThe SCAS is sensitive to treatment effects and is frequently used for monitoring treatment/interventions.The self-assessment version allows for not only observable behaviors to be assessed by others. The SCAS is available online in various languages.Less than 10 minutes to complete.It has been widely used in research.

DISADVANTAGES

Each countries results indicates that they have highest levels of anxiety.

*When using the Spence, the scoring procedure breaks down the scale into 6 subscales representing specific aspects of anxiety. It allows you to find out further information and categorize the anxiety into specific categories.