L’objectif de la recherche a été d’étudier la validité de critère de l’échelle d’anxiété et de dépression révisée (RCADS) et de la grille d’évaluation des troubles anxieux-forme révisée (SCARED-R) à partir du Dominique Interactif. Le RCADS est destiné à évaluer la symptomatologie associée aux troubles anxieux et à la dépression majeure chez l’enfant. Le SCARED-R est un questionnaire focalisé sur les troubles anxieux de l’enfant. Le Dominique Interactif est un questionnaire informatisé présenté sous forme de jeu vidéo qui permet de repérer les enfants à risque d’avoir des troubles émotionnels. L’échantillon est formé de 119 participants (âge moyen : 13,40ans, écart-type : 1,34) et composé de 64 garçons et 55 filles. Les participants ont été classés en deux groupes selon leur résultat au Dominique Interactif. Le groupe témoin comprend les enfants n’ayant aucun score atteignant le seuil clinique et le groupe d’enfants à risque comprend les enfants ayant au moins un score atteignant le seuil clinique pour un trouble intériorisé (anxiété ou dépression). Lorsqu’on compare les enfants « témoins » et les enfants classés à risque d’avoir un trouble intériorisé, il n’existe aucune différence significative au RCADS. Il en est de même pour le SCARED-R, à l’exception de l’échelle de phobie spécifique de type environnement. Il sera nécessaire d’étudier le RCADS et le SCARED-R sur des sujets cliniques venant consulter pour des troubles anxieux ou dépressifs.

There are very few tools for assessing anxiety and depression disorders in children. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report that measures symptoms of DSM-IV linked anxiety and major depression disorders in children. The RCADS contains 47 items grouped into six subscales: separation anxiety disorder; social phobia; obsessive compulsive disorder; panic disorder; generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R) is a self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of DSM-IV linked anxiety disorders in children. The SCARED-R consists of nine scales, which represent nine child anxiety disorders (panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, specific phobia – animal type, specific phobia – situational/environment type, specific phobia - blood/injuries type). The Dominic Interactive is a computerized questionnaire presented as a video game that identifies children and teenagers at risk for emotional disorders. The seven mental disorders selected in the Dominic Interactive are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, specific phobia and major depression. The Dominic Interactive is the only one of these three questionnaires to have been studied on a French-speaking population. The purpose of our research was to study the validity (known as criteria validity) of the two questionnaires (RCADS and SCARED-R) based on the results of the Dominic Interactive on a sample of non-clinical adolescents.

The sample consisted of 119 participants (mean age: 13.40, SD: 1.34) recruited from high schools in the Rhône-Alpes region. It included 64 boys (mean age: 13.57±1.34) and 55 girls (mean age: 13.20±1.33). Participants were classified into two groups according to their results on the Dominic Interactive. The control group included children with no score reaching the clinical threshold, and the “children at risk” group was composed of children presenting at least one score reaching the clinical threshold for an internalized disorder (anxiety or depression).

Of the 119 participants, 90 had a Dominic Interactive negative (mean age: 13.46±1.30) and 29 had a Dominic Interactive positive (mean age: 13.20±1.33). The 90 negative subjects were divided into 50 boys and 40 girls, while the 29 positive subjects were divided into 14 boys and 15 girls. In our sample of adolescents, 20.2% of participants had a threshold score for one (or several) internalized disorder(s) and 4.2% had a threshold score for an externalized disorder. Internalized disorders are divided into specific phobia (n=4), separation anxiety (n=19), generalized anxiety disorder (n=4) and major depression (n=1). When comparing children in the control group to children at risk of an internalized disorder, there was no significant difference in the RCADS. The same results were observed with the SCARED-R, with an exception for the situational/environment type of specific phobia.

The current study did not show criteria validity of RCADS and SCARED-R on a non-clinical population based on the Dominic Interactive. It is important to note that the Dominic Interactive is not enough to make a clinical diagnosis; it identifies adolescents at risk. It would have been necessary to carry out clinical interviews to validate (or not) the result of the Dominic Interactive in terms of diagnosis. The collection of anonymous group data did not allow us to proceed to this second stage. It is important to remember that the Dominic Interactive focuses on both the most common internalized and externalized disorders in childhood and adolescence. RCADS and SCARED-R are more focused on the evaluation of the symptoms associated with anxiety disorders. It will be necessary to examine the criteria validity of RCADS and SCARED-R on clinical subjects consulting for emotional disorders.