Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale 25-Item Version in El Salvador

Abstract

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, 25-Item Version (RCADS-25) is a well-known, brief self-report measure of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. As part of an initiative to institute school-based screening for psychopathology, this study conducted a psychometric examination of the Spanish form of this measure in El Salvador in a sample of 1296 3rd- through 12th-graders (mean age = 12.73 (SD = 2.67); 55.2% female; 100% Latinx). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the previously established two-factor structure comprising Anxiety and Depression subscales provided a strong fit for the data. Additionally, measurement invariance analyses by gender demonstrated scalar (strong) invariance, indicating that patterns of responses did not differ on the basis of this variable. This finding is particularly useful in making direct comparisons of symptom levels between boys and girls in future studies involving Central American youth. Norms derived from the current sample are presented and the utility of invariance study in cross-cultural research is highlighted. The findings are also contextualized in comparison to the broader literature examining the various forms of the RCADS in global populations, which indicates a robust, broadly useful measure for capturing symptoms of anxiety and depression.