Abstract
To examine prospectively the stability, changes, and incidence in DSM-IV-related anxiety symptom clusters in a community sample
of adolescents. On two occasions, 1 year apart, 946 Norwegian adolescents aged 13–16 years completed the SCARED, a 41-item
multidimensional anxiety self-report scale that measures the levels of five principal DSM-IV-related anxiety symptom clusters.
Seventy-three percent of the adolescents participated in the study at baseline, and only 7 % were lost to follow-up. Both
sexes in all age cohorts, except girls aged 14–15 years, showed the same 1-year developmental pattern of stable scores, or
small reductions in the total anxiety score, for all DSM-IV-related anxiety symptom clusters. Adolescents defined as “high
anxiety scorers” showed a girl:boy ratio of 4:1. Whereas approximately half these students remained high scorers at the 1-year
follow-up, the same proportion returned to normal anxiety levels. The 1-year incidence of high-level anxiety was 8.2 % for
the whole sample, 12.6 % for the girls and 3.4 % for the boys. These results underscore the need for improved identification
of adolescents in the general population with stable high anxiety levels, as opposed to those with transient high anxiety.
The normative findings of this study also provide reference data with which to evaluate individual changes in clinical practice
and the results of efficacy trials, including 1-year follow-up evaluations.
of adolescents. On two occasions, 1 year apart, 946 Norwegian adolescents aged 13–16 years completed the SCARED, a 41-item
multidimensional anxiety self-report scale that measures the levels of five principal DSM-IV-related anxiety symptom clusters.
Seventy-three percent of the adolescents participated in the study at baseline, and only 7 % were lost to follow-up. Both
sexes in all age cohorts, except girls aged 14–15 years, showed the same 1-year developmental pattern of stable scores, or
small reductions in the total anxiety score, for all DSM-IV-related anxiety symptom clusters. Adolescents defined as “high
anxiety scorers” showed a girl:boy ratio of 4:1. Whereas approximately half these students remained high scorers at the 1-year
follow-up, the same proportion returned to normal anxiety levels. The 1-year incidence of high-level anxiety was 8.2 % for
the whole sample, 12.6 % for the girls and 3.4 % for the boys. These results underscore the need for improved identification
of adolescents in the general population with stable high anxiety levels, as opposed to those with transient high anxiety.
The normative findings of this study also provide reference data with which to evaluate individual changes in clinical practice
and the results of efficacy trials, including 1-year follow-up evaluations.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Contribution
- Pages 1-9
- DOI 10.1007/s00787-012-0284-7
- Authors
- Einar Leikanger, Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Bo Larsson, Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
- Journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
- Online ISSN 1435-165X
- Print ISSN 1018-8827