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Psychometric Properties of a Spanish Translation of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version

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Abstract

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version (RCADS-P) is a parent-report questionnaire that assesses dimensions of DSM anxiety and depressive disorders in youths. Previous studies have found that the RCADS-P possesses clinical utility and strong psychometric properties in both clinic- and school-based populations. To increase applicability of the measure to a greater proportion of the individuals accessing mental health services, the present study sought to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the RCADS-P. As completed by parents of 85 publicly referred children and adolescents, the RCADS-P demonstrated good internal consistency and convergent, discriminant, and divergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported a six-factor model consistent with the measure’s six subscales: separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depressive disorder. A secondary aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of a shortened, 25-item version of the Spanish translation of the RCADS-P, which also evidenced favorable psychometric properties. Findings provide support for the Spanish version of the RCADS-P as an efficient and informative parent-report measure of youths' internalizing behaviors.

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Notes

  1. The items on the RCADS-P are identical to those on the original RCADS, but with modified wording to assess the parent’s perspective on the youth’s anxiety and depression.

  2. Several versions of the RCADS and its scoring program are available for free from the following URL: http://www.childfirst.ucla.edu/resources.html.

  3. Although the sample size of this study is smaller than the minimum sample size that is typically recommended for factor analysis (e.g., Comrey 1978), the literature on the relation of component saturation to factor detection (Guadagnoli and Velicer 1988) in conjunction with our expectation that the Spanish RCADS-P will evidence good model fit suggest that CFA can nevertheless produce reliable findings.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by grants to Dr. Chorpita from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. The funders/sponsors did not shape the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data, or the preparation, review, or approval of the article.

Conflict of Interest

Alayna L. Park, Chad K. Ebesutani, Deepika Bose, and Bruce F. Chorpita declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Experiment Participants

We wish to thank the participating organizations, therapists, youths, and parents for their involvement in this research. We also wish to thank Antonio Polo, Adriana Rodriguez, and Silvia Henriquez for their assistance with the translations involved in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1563, USA

    Alayna L. Park, Deepika Bose & Bruce F. Chorpita

  2. Department of Psychology, Duksung Women’s University, 33, Samyang-ro 144-gil, 419 Sangmundong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, 132-714, South Korea

    Chad K. Ebesutani

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  1. Alayna L. Park
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  2. Chad K. Ebesutani
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  3. Deepika Bose
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  4. Bruce F. Chorpita
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Correspondence to Chad K. Ebesutani.

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Park, A.L., Ebesutani, C.K., Bose, D. et al. Psychometric Properties of a Spanish Translation of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Parent Version. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 38, 307–319 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9517-7

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