Factor structure of the Russian version of the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)

Context and relevance. Early detection of anxiety and depression symptoms is a priority task for the child and adolescent mental health system. As Russian practice traditionally relies on separate instruments, assessing anxiety and depression in isolation, there is a need for integrated instruments. Objective. To examine the factor structure of the Russian version of the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). Hypothesis. It was expected that the adapted scale would reproduce a theoretically sound two-factor structure, as well as demonstrate adequate reliability and validity values. Methods and materials. The study involved 183 adolescents who completed the Russian version of the RCADS. Results. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the theoretically grounded two-factor structure of the adapted scale. The anxiety and depression scales demonstrated adequate indices of convergent validity and internal consistency. Analysis of sex differences revealed that girls had significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than boys, supporting the need for sex-specific interpretation of results. Conclusions. The Russian version of the RCADS demonstrated adequate psychometric characteristics. These conclusions are preliminary in nature and need additional testing on larger and more representative samples of adolescents.

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