Predicting Anxiety Diagnoses and Severity with the CBCL-A: Improvement Relative to Other CBCL Scales?

The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a widely used parent-report of child and adolescent behavior. We examined the ability of the CBCL-A scale, a previously published subset of CBCL items, to predict the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), separation anxiety disorder (SAD), and social phobia (SoP), as well as anxiety severity, among 488 youth randomized in the Child Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS). We predicted that the CBCL-A’s unique inclusion of items related to somatic symptoms would better identify anxiety disorder and severity than other CBCL scales, given that somatic complaints are often key features of anxiety among youth. Results support the use of the anxiety-based CBCL subscales as first-line screeners for generally elevated symptoms of anxiety, rather than tools to identify specific anxiety disorders. Although somatic symptoms are often reported and included in diagnostic criteria for certain anxiety disorders (e.g., SAD, GAD), the unique combination of somatic and non-somatic symptoms for the CBCL-A subscale did not increase its ability to consistently predict the presence of specific anxiety disorders

The developmental psychopathology of social anxiety and phobia in adolescents

The highest incidence rates for social anxiety disorder (SAD) occur during the period from late childhood to early adulthood. A number of factors that increase vulnerability for the development of SAD have been proposed in the literature, including genes, temperament, biological factors, cognitive factors, parent factors, life events, peer experiences, performance deficits, general learning mechanisms, and cultural factors. These proposed aetiological factors have been given different weightings in theoretical accounts of the aetiology of SAD. Genes, temperament, cognitive factors, parent factors, life events, and peer experiences are generally emphasised in theoretical accounts, while biological factors, performance deficits, general learning mechanisms, and cultural factors have received less emphasis. The proposed aetiological factors have also been empirically examined to varying extents in the literature. In general, the majority of research into the proposed aetiological factors has been limited by the use of cross-sectional designs and the recruitment of individuals already diagnosed with SAD. Further research is needed to obtain better evidence to evaluate the aetiological role of the proposed factors. Such research will ultimately help to develop efficacious early intervention and prevention strategies for SAD