Factorial invariance and norms of the 30-item shortened-version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-30).

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Abstract

Background: Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most common mental disorders during childhood and adolescence. As the 30-item shortened version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS-30) exhibits excellent psychometric properties, it is one of the most commonly used scales for the initial detection and assessment of these symptoms in children and adolescents. This is because of the advantage of its brevity when compared to the 47-item version. The aim of this study was to analyse factorial invariance according to sex, age, and format used to administer the test, and to identify the RCADS-30 subscales. Method: A sample of 3,708 Spanish children and adolescents aged between 7 and 18 years old (M = 12.0 years, SD = 2.8) participated in the study. Results: The factorial structure of the RCADS-30 is invariant according to sex, age, and format used to administer the scale. Conclusions: The RCADS-30 exhibited excellent factorial invariance for the variables analysed, confi rming its usability for different types of sample and administration formats.