Brief Description
The SCAS-Child asks children to rate how often they experience a variety of anxiety-related symptoms (e.g., “I worry that something bad will happen to me,” “I feel scared when I have to take a test”) on a scale from “Never” to “Always.” It is designed to measure the severity of anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents, aligning with DSM-defined anxiety disorders. It captures general anxiety and specific subtypes such as social phobia, separation anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Assessment Administration Type
Child/Adolescent Self-Report
Number of questions
45
Age Range for Administration
8-15
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No recommended standard frequency; Blueprint recommends monthly or quarterly administration depending on clinical need and treatment goals.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The SCAS consists of 44 questions, 38 anxiety items and 6 filler questions.The 6 filler items are NOT scored. The responses are scored on a 4 point scale ranging from 0 to 3, with a maximum possible score of 114.
Response | Score |
Never | 0 |
Sometimes | 1 |
Often | 2 |
Always | 3 |
The SCAS includes six subscales. The filler items are questions 11, 17, 26, 31, 38, and 43.
Subscale | Questions |
Separation Anxiety | 5, 8, 12, 15, 16, 44 |
Social Phobia | 6, 7, 9, 10, 29, 35 |
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder | 14, 19, 27, 40, 41, 42 |
Panic/Agoraphobia | 13, 21, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 37, 39 |
Generalized Anxiety | 1, 3, 4, 20, 22, 24 |
Fears of Physical Injury | 2, 18, 23, 25, 33 |
Higher scores indicate higher anxiety severity. T-scores are used for interpretation (see below).
Blueprint Adjustments
Blueprint provides total raw scores for each of the subscales. Total score interpretation should be ignored. The official SCAS website provides detailed T-score conversion tables tailored to specific age and gender groups which can be downloaded from the website here. Clinicians then should go to page 4 of the PDF, and select the "score range" that aligns with the Blueprint calculated score to get the appropriate T-score for either the total or individual subscales.
See table below for T-score interpretations:
T-Score | Interpretation |
Less than 60 | "Normal" range |
60-69 | Indicates “elevated anxiety” |
70 or more | Suggests severe anxiety, warranting further clinical assessment. |
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 10–15 minutes
Helpful for identifying specific domains of anxiety for targeted intervention
The self-report nature of the assessments requires the respondent to have reading comprehension and insight into emotional experience.
Unfortunately, the SCAS T-Score tables are not available for those who identify as gender diverse.
The SCAS should not be used as a standalone diagnostic tool; it is best used alongside clinical interview and other assessments. Repeated administration may be beneficial for tracking treatment progress.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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