Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children

In treating childhood anxiety disorders, therapists use highly individualized anxiety hierarchies to assess anxiety-eliciting situations and to personalize treatment. In contrast, psychometric assessment of anxiety symptoms in children usually consists of standardized questionnaires, assessing eithe...

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Autores principales:	Michael W. Lippert, Katharina Sommer, Tabea Flasinski, Verena Pflug, Angela Rölver, Hanna Christiansen, Tina In-Albon, Susanne Knappe, Marcel Romanos, Brunna Tuschen-Caffier, Silvia Schneider
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	personalized assessment avoidance anxiety children questionnaires Psychology BF1-990
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/988ad34dce174fe18d22f7f129ac8a6e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:988ad34dce174fe18d22f7f129ac8a6e2021-11-17T07:05:42ZPersonalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children1664-107810.3389/fpsyg.2021.703784https://doaj.org/article/988ad34dce174fe18d22f7f129ac8a6e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703784/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078In treating childhood anxiety disorders, therapists use highly individualized anxiety hierarchies to assess anxiety-eliciting situations and to personalize treatment. In contrast, psychometric assessment of anxiety symptoms in children usually consists of standardized questionnaires, assessing either total anxiety or disorder-specific symptom scores, prioritizing comparability over individual information. To account for interindividual differences, the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children (AVAC) was developed, following a precise, personalized, assessment approach. In responding to the questionnaire, children and parents identify the most anxiety-eliciting situations before starting treatment, and rate them for anxiety and avoidance. Ratings are repeated over the course of treatment. The aim of this study is to introduce the new questionnaire and present first data on psychometric properties. The AVAC was administered to 389 children with separation anxiety disorder (N = 148), social anxiety disorder (N = 110) or specific phobia (N = 131) aged 8 to 16 and their parents, along with other measures of anxiety and psychopathology before and after cognitive behavioral treatment. Results showed adequate to good test-retest reliability. The AVAC items correlated significantly with established anxiety questionnaires, indicating convergent construct validity. Regarding divergent construct validity, the AVAC showed only small correlations with externalizing symptoms, demonstrating its precision in measuring anxiety and avoidance. The questionnaire was also sensitive to change after treatment, with medium to large effects in the reduction of anxiety and avoidance. The present analyses suggest that the new personalized assessment approach with the AVAC is a reliable and valid assessment of individualized anxiety and avoidance, as well as change in those constructs over the course of CBT treatment.Michael W. LippertKatharina SommerTabea FlasinskiVerena PflugAngela RölverHanna ChristiansenTina In-AlbonSusanne KnappeMarcel RomanosBrunna Tuschen-CaffierSilvia SchneiderFrontiers Media S.A.articlepersonalized assessmentavoidanceanxietychildrenquestionnairesPsychologyBF1-990ENFrontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	personalized assessment avoidance anxiety children questionnaires Psychology BF1-990
spellingShingle	personalized assessment avoidance anxiety children questionnaires Psychology BF1-990 Michael W. Lippert Katharina Sommer Tabea Flasinski Verena Pflug Angela Rölver Hanna Christiansen Tina In-Albon Susanne Knappe Marcel Romanos Brunna Tuschen-Caffier Silvia Schneider Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
description	In treating childhood anxiety disorders, therapists use highly individualized anxiety hierarchies to assess anxiety-eliciting situations and to personalize treatment. In contrast, psychometric assessment of anxiety symptoms in children usually consists of standardized questionnaires, assessing either total anxiety or disorder-specific symptom scores, prioritizing comparability over individual information. To account for interindividual differences, the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children (AVAC) was developed, following a precise, personalized, assessment approach. In responding to the questionnaire, children and parents identify the most anxiety-eliciting situations before starting treatment, and rate them for anxiety and avoidance. Ratings are repeated over the course of treatment. The aim of this study is to introduce the new questionnaire and present first data on psychometric properties. The AVAC was administered to 389 children with separation anxiety disorder (N = 148), social anxiety disorder (N = 110) or specific phobia (N = 131) aged 8 to 16 and their parents, along with other measures of anxiety and psychopathology before and after cognitive behavioral treatment. Results showed adequate to good test-retest reliability. The AVAC items correlated significantly with established anxiety questionnaires, indicating convergent construct validity. Regarding divergent construct validity, the AVAC showed only small correlations with externalizing symptoms, demonstrating its precision in measuring anxiety and avoidance. The questionnaire was also sensitive to change after treatment, with medium to large effects in the reduction of anxiety and avoidance. The present analyses suggest that the new personalized assessment approach with the AVAC is a reliable and valid assessment of individualized anxiety and avoidance, as well as change in those constructs over the course of CBT treatment.
format	article
author	Michael W. Lippert Katharina Sommer Tabea Flasinski Verena Pflug Angela Rölver Hanna Christiansen Tina In-Albon Susanne Knappe Marcel Romanos Brunna Tuschen-Caffier Silvia Schneider
author_facet	Michael W. Lippert Katharina Sommer Tabea Flasinski Verena Pflug Angela Rölver Hanna Christiansen Tina In-Albon Susanne Knappe Marcel Romanos Brunna Tuschen-Caffier Silvia Schneider
author_sort	Michael W. Lippert
title	Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
title_short	Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
title_full	Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
title_fullStr	Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
title_full_unstemmed	Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children
title_sort	personalized assessment of anxiety and avoidance in children and their parents—development and evaluation of the anxiety and avoidance scale for children
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/988ad34dce174fe18d22f7f129ac8a6e
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Personalized Assessment of Anxiety and Avoidance in Children and Their Parents—Development and Evaluation of the Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Children

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