Brief Description
The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-25 (RCADS-25) is a 25-item self-report questionnaire used to assess symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. It is divided into two subscales: the Total Depression subscale, consisting of 10 items, and the Total Anxiety subscale, comprising 15 items. Each item asks respondents to rate how often they experience specific feelings or behaviors related to anxiety or depression (e.g., “I worry when I think I have done poorly at something”). Responses are rated on a 4-point scale, ranging from "Never" to "Always." The measure is used both for screening purposes and for monitoring treatment progress.
Assessment Administration Type
Child/Adolescent Self-Report
Number of questions
25
Age Range for Administration
8-18
Recommended Frequency of Administration
Weekly
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
Items are ranked on a 4-point Likert scale of 0 to 3. Scoring the RCADS-25 involves summing the numerical values of the responses for each subscale, with raw scores ranging from 0 to 30 for the depression subscale and 0 to 45 for the anxiety subscale. Subscale items are divided as follows:
Subscale | Items |
Depression | 1, 4, 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24 |
Anxiety | 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20, 23, 25 |
The total score for the entire measure is calculated by adding the values from all 25 items. These raw scores are then converted into T-scores. Automated scoring tools, such as Excel files, which can be downloaded here from the UCLA RCADS website are available to assist with conversion to T-scores and streamline the scoring process. The T-scores are interpreted using reference tables that account for developmental level and gender, as anxiety and depression symptoms manifest differently across these dimensions. T-score reference tables can be accessed here. With both raw scores and T-scores, higher scores indicate more severe symptoms.
Blueprint Adjustments
Blueprint provides total scores and scores for each subscale. It is unable to produce T-Scores and provide interpretation based on gender and age of the respondent.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated time for completion: 5-10 minutes.
In addition to the RCADS-25, Blueprint also offers the RCADS-47, and the RCADS-Parent, which offers insight into the child’s functioning from the parent/caregiver perspective.
The Spanish versions of RCADS-47, RCADS-25, RCADS-47 Parent, and RCADS-25 Parent are all available on Blueprint. See the RCADS website for converting Blueprint scores to T-Scores.
The RCADS has been translated into multiple languages and used with children and youth across Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
Scoring norms for gender-diverse individuals have not been validated. The authors report they are working on finding these norms to attend to the needs of this population. In the meantime, they report that one option is to use the comparison group of the sex assigned at birth for scoring purposes. However, depending on the context, such as outcome monitoring for improvement, it may be more appropriate to use raw scores rather than normed scores for this population.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
The RCADS is available for free at this website.
We're here for you!
Do you have follow-up questions? We're here and happy to help!
Send us an email at help@blueprint-health.com or use the help messenger in the lower right corner to speak with our Support team. 💪🏼