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The present study examines the construct validity of separation anxiety disorder (SAD), social phobia (SoP), panic disorder (PD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a clinical sample of children. Participants were 174 children, 6 to 17 years old (94 boys) who had undergone a diagnostic evaluation at a university hospital based clinic. Parent and child ratings of symptom severity were assessed using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). Diagnostician ratings were obtained from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children and Parents (ADIS: C/P). Discriminant and convergent validity were assessed using confirmatory factor analytic techniques to test a multitrait-multimethod model. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the current classification of these child anxiety disorders. The disorders demonstrated statistical independence from each other (discriminant validity of traits), the model fit better when the anxiety syndromes were specified than when no specific syndromes were specified (convergent validity), and the methods of assessment yielded distinguishable, unique types of information about child anxiety (discriminant validity of methods). Using a multi-informant approach, these findings support the distinctions between childhood anxiety disorders as delineated in the current classification system, suggesting that disagreement between informants in psychometric studies of child anxiety measures is not due to poor construct validity of these anxiety syndromes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine child, parent, and clinician's consensus agreement on the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule, Child and Parent versions (ADIS-C/P) in a sample of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).Method: Youth with ASD (n=85; age range=7-17 years) and their parents were each administered the ADIS-C/P by a trained clinician. Consensus diagnoses were determined in a clinical conference using best estimate procedures that incorporated all available information.Results: Children and youth with ASD diagnoses generally showed poor diagnostic agreement with parents and clinical consensus, whereas parents showed good-to-excellent diagnostic agreement with clinical consensus diagnoses. Diagnostic agreement between parents and consensus was moderated by the specific ASD diagnosis. Otherwise, the pattern of relationships did not systematically differ as a function of age or externalizing comorbidity.Conclusions: These data suggest that parent and youth agreement regarding the presence of clinical levels of anxiety is markedly poor among youth with ASD. Additionally, clinicians are likely to base their diagnostic impressions on parent report, placing minimal emphasis on child report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth with learning disabilities (LD) are at an increased risk for anxiety disorders and valid measures of anxiety are necessary for assessing this population. We investigated the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC; March in Multidimensional anxiety scale for children. Multi-Health Systems, North Tonawanda, 1998) in 41 adolescents (ages 11-17 years) with LD. Youth and parents completed the MASC and were administered the semi-structured Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: Child and Parent Versions (ADIS: C/P; Silverman and Albano in The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV-Child and Parent Versions. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, 1996). Results found that child and parent reports of Social Anxiety on the MASC closely corresponded with ADIS-generated social phobia diagnoses, and parent total scores discriminated well among youth with and without any anxiety disorder. A multi-method multi-trait matrix provided evidence of the construct validity of the MASC total score for both parent and child reports. Our findings provide empirical evidence that parent and child versions of the MASC are useful for assessing anxiety in youth with LD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]