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Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED)3

Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) Test

Completed in about eight minutes, the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) Test uses 41 questions to explore a child’s emotional experiences. The result highlights patterns involving panic, separation, social situations, generalized worry, and school avoidance, supporting clearer self-reflection and a more focused understanding of the child’s profile.

Questions: 418 minutes

Screen for Child Anxiety: test ticket with numbers

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

School AvoidanceSA

Assesses the intensity of avoidance reactions related to attending school, which can reflect school-related fear and avoidance behaviors.

example score3/8

3/8Elevatedexample score

0 – 2Low

3 – 8Elevated

A score of 3 falls in the Elevated range, suggesting a more pronounced school-avoidance reaction compared with lower scores.

Social Anxiety DisorderSAD

Assesses the severity of symptoms associated with social anxiety in children.

example score6/14

6/14Lowexample score

0 – 7Low

8 – 14Elevated

A score of 6 falls in the Low range, suggesting relatively few social anxiety symptoms on this scale.

Separation Anxiety DisorderSAD

Assesses the severity of separation-related anxiety symptoms associated with separation anxiety disorder in children.

example score11/16

11/16Elevatedexample score

0 – 4Low

5 – 16Elevated

A score of 11 falls in the Elevated range (≥5), indicating a higher level of separation-related anxiety symptoms on this scale.

Generalized Anxiety DisorderGAD

The GTR scale screens for the severity of generalized anxiety symptoms in children.

example score5/18

5/18Lowexample score

0 – 8Low

9 – 18Elevated

A score of 5 falls in the Low range, suggesting few generalized anxiety symptoms on this screening scale.

Panic Disorder/Somatic SymptomsPDS

The PR scale measures the severity of panic-related symptoms with physical (somatic) manifestations in a child.

example score14/26

14/26Elevatedexample score

0 – 6Low

7 – 26Elevated

A score of 14 falls in the Elevated range, indicating a higher level of panic-related somatic symptoms on this screening scale.

SCARED Total ScoreSTS

The Total SCARED score summarizes overall anxiety symptom severity to help screen for possible anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.

example score66/82

66/82Highexample score

0 – 24Low

25 – 29Elevated

30 – 82High

A score of 66 falls in the High range, indicating markedly elevated anxiety symptoms on this screening measure.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Concerned parents of 8–11s

44%OF USERS

Parents who notice frequent worries, clinginess, sleep issues, or school refusal use the parent version to understand whether anxiety may be present.

School counselors and psychologists

33%OF USERS

School-based specialists use it for quick screening when a child shows distress, avoidance, or social withdrawal and needs a clearer picture of anxiety signs.

Pediatric and mental health clinicians

23%OF USERS

Clinicians in clinics or counseling centers use both child and parent forms to guide further assessment and plan next steps for support.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

AI-PsychologistA

You?

Average5

Typical rangeTypical3.9 – 6.1

Possible0 – 8

SocTRS

You?

Average4.8

Typical rangeTypical2.4 – 7.2

Possible0 – 14

SepTRS

You?

Average7.6

Typical rangeTypical5.2 – 9.9

Possible0 – 16

GTRG

You?

Average6.4

Typical rangeTypical3.1 – 9.6

Possible0 – 18

PRP

You?

Average18.9

Typical rangeTypical14.3 – 23.6

Possible0 – 26

Total SCARED ScoreTSS

You?

Average26.8

Typical rangeTypical15.6 – 37.9

Possible0 – 82

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below is a list of statements describing various feelings of people around you. Please read each statement carefully and decide whether, with respect to your child, the statement is: “not true / almost never true,” “somewhat true / true in some situations,” or “always true / true in most situations.” Select the response that best describes your child’s condition over the past three months. Please answer all statements as thoughtfully as possible, even if some do not seem to apply to your child directly.

- Not true or hardly ever true
- Somewhat true or sometimes true
- Very true or often true
- Not true / hardly ever true
- Somewhat true / true some of the time
- Always true / true most of the time
- Not true or hardly ever true
- Somewhat true or sometimes true
- Very true or often true

These are 3 of the 41 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) Test - Description and methodology of the test

uneasiness

Parents, caregivers, and professionals seeking a structured first look at a child’s anxiety can use the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) Test to organize concerns across familiar situations. This child anxiety screening tool turns reported experiences into a profile of symptom patterns, helping readers decide which concerns need closer attention and which contexts may be shaping them.

What This Assessment Explores

The questionnaire examines anxiety symptoms in children through bodily reactions, worries, fears, and behavior. Items cover panic, separation distress, unfamiliar people, persistent worry, and school-related complaints or reluctance. The result shows which patterns are more prominent in the respondent’s view of the child; interpret it alongside symptom frequency, settings, and everyday functioning.

The displayed scales summarize these result dimensions:

Panic Disorder/Somatic Symptoms (0-26) assesses panic with somatic symptoms; Low 0-6, Elevated 7-26.
SCARED Total Score (0-82) screens anxiety disorders in children and adolescents; Low 0-24, Elevated 25-29, High 30-82.
School Avoidance (0-8) assesses marked school avoidance; Low 0-2, Elevated 3-8.
Social Anxiety Disorder (0-14) assesses social anxiety symptoms; Low 0-7, Elevated 8-14.
Separation Anxiety Disorder (0-16) assesses separation anxiety; Low 0-4, Elevated 5-16.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (0-18) assesses generalized anxiety; Low 0-8, Elevated 9-18.

Methodology and Evidence Base

In its online format, the SCARED questionnaire presents statements about a child’s feelings, bodily reactions, worries, and behavior at home, school, and in social settings. The respondent selects one of three ordered options, from not true or hardly ever true, through somewhat true or sometimes true, to very true or often true. The wording asks how frequently each experience is observed.

Responses are combined into a total score and focused scale scores. The displayed bands classify results as low, elevated, or high where provided; higher totals generally reflect more endorsed anxiety-related experiences. The ranges alone do not reveal how many points each response contributes, so no answer-weighting rule should be inferred.

Methodologically, this questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the published SCARED instrument, which was developed to screen anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents through caregiver reports. Studies of SCARED describe its construction and examine psychometric findings across different cultural settings, but they do not establish separate norms or validation for this digital presentation.

Caregiver ratings may reflect memory, current stress, expectations, and differences between settings. Read the result as a screening profile for discussion and further evaluation, not a diagnosis.

Author: B. Birmaher

Literature:

Birmaher, B., Brent, D. A., Chiappetta, L., Bridge, J., Monga, S., & Baugher, M. (1999). Psychometric properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): A replication study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(10), 1230-1236. 10.1097/00004583-199910000-00011
Birmaher, B., Khetarpal, S., Brent, D., Cully, M., Balach, L., Kaufman, J., & Neer, S. M. (1997). The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): Scale construction and psychometric characteristics. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(4), 545-553. 10.1097/00004583-199704000-00018
Hale, W. W. III, Crocetti, E., Raaijmakers, Q. A. W., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2011). A meta-analysis of the cross-cultural psychometric properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(1), 80-90. 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02285.x

Updated: 2025-10-02