Évaluation du trouble d'anxiété généralisée et des inquiétudes chez les enfants et les adolescents

Excessive worries, which are the core feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), are associated with serious consequences for children and adolescents. According to Albano and Hack (2004), worry, as well as GAD, affects many dimensions of academic, social and personal functioning among these populations (Albano & Hack, 2004). In spite of the important prevalence of this phenomenon among children and adolescents and their negative consequences, there are still few studies conducted among these age groups. Moreover, few instruments have been developed in order to effectively assess worry and GAD among children and adolescents. Frequently used instruments assess physical symptoms of anxiety and often ignore GAD criteria or worry. The goal of the present study is to review available instruments used in the literature on GAD and worry to assess children and adolescents. Relevant clinical structured interviews, self-report questionnaires and self-observation sheets are selected, identified from MEDLINE (1986-2006/12) and PsycINFO (1983-2006/12) databases. Advantages, inconvenients and psychometric properties of each assessment tool are discussed. Normative data, when available, are also presented. Research and clinical recommendations are suggested in order to better assess GAD and excessive worry among children and adolescents.