Abstract/Summary

Objective: To determine if two widely used child and parent report questionnaires of child anxiety symptoms and interference (Spence Child Anxiety Scale, SCAS-C/P; Child Anxiety Impact Scale; CAIS-C/P) accurately identify recovery from common child anxiety disorder diagnoses. Method: 337 children (7-12 years, 51% female) and their parents completed diagnostic interviews (ADIS-IV-C/P) and questionnaire measures (SCAS-C/P and CAIS-C/P), before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) treatment or wait-list. Results: Time 2 parent reported interference (CAIS-P) was a good predictor of absence of any diagnoses (AUC=.81). In terms of specific diagnoses, Time 2 SCAS-C/P separation anxiety subscale (SCAS-C/P-SA) identified recovery from separation anxiety disorder well (SCAS-C-SA, AUC=.80; SCAS-P-SA, AUC=.82) as did the CAIS-P (AUC=.79). The CAIS-P also successfully identified recovery from social phobia (AUC=.78) and generalized anxiety disorder (AUC=.76). These AUC values were supported by moderate to good sensitivity (.70-.78) and specificity (.70-.73) at the best identified cut-off scores. None of the measures successfully identified recovery from specific phobia. Conclusions: Questionnaire measures, particularly the CAIS-P, can be used to identify whether children have recovered from common anxiety disorders, with the exception of specific phobias. Cut-off scores have been identified that can guide the use of routine outcome measures in clinical practice.