Associations of symptoms of anxiety disorders and self-reported behavior problems in normal children.

Abstract

61 children, aged between 14 and 18 years, completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, a scale of anxiety disorders symptoms, and the Youth Self-report, a measure of internalizing, i.e., emotional, and externalizing, i.e., behavioral, problems. Analysis showed that, with the exception of the Social Phobia and the Specific Phobia subscales, Screen total and subscale scores were significantly related to Internalizing problems (rs between .40 and .77). Thus, the more frequently children reported Anxiety Disorder symptoms, the more often they reported emotional problems. Furthermore, in particular, anxious-depressed problems as measured by the Youth Self-report were significantly associated with scores on Screen scales. These results further support the concurrent validity of the Screen.