The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale in Adolescents with Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Signal Detection and Validation
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: In pediatric patients with anxiety disorders, existing symptom inventories are either not freely available or require extensive time and effort to administer. We sought to evaluate a brief self-report scale-the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)-in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). METHODS: The Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS) and the GAD-7 were administered to youth with GAD (confirmed by structured interview). Relationships between the measures were assessed, and sensitivity and specificity was determined with regard to a global symptom severity measure (Clinical Global Impression-Severity). RESULTS: In adolescents with GAD (N = 40; mean age, 14.8 ± 2.8), PARS and GAD-7 scores strongly correlated (R = 0.65, P ≤ .001) and a main effect for symptom severity was observed (P ≤ .001). GAD-7 scores ≥11 and ≥17 represented the optimum specificity and sensitivity for detecting moderate and severe anxiety, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The PARS and GAD-7 similarly reflect symptom severity. The GAD-7 is associated with acceptable specificity and sensitivity for detecting clinically significant anxiety symptoms. GAD-7 scores may be used to assess anxiety symptoms and to differentiate between mild and moderate GAD in adolescents, and may be more efficient than the PARS.
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The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 is a validated, reliable, and sensitive to treatment-related changes tool that assesses anxiety symptoms in youth.
“The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 is a validated, reliable, and sensitive to treatment-related changes tool that assesses anxiety symptoms in youth [76].”
From Smartphone App–Delivered Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Adolescents: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial (2024) · cites this paper as [76]
The Abstract’s Conclusions support using the GAD-7 to assess anxiety symptoms and distinguish severity levels in adolescents with GAD. The Introduction says it is sensitive to treatment-related changes in adults, not youth; the passages found do not establish reliability in youth. The claim therefore extends the paper’s findings beyond the population and properties it evaluated. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe GAD-7 has demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.92) and validity in adults and adolescents.
“The scale has demonstrated excellent reliability (α = 0.92) and validity in adults (Löwe et al., 2008) and adolescents (Mossman et al., 2017).”
From Pilot study of a well-being app to support New Zealand young people during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as Mossman et al., 2017
The Abstract Results and Conclusions report evidence of validity in adolescents with GAD: GAD-7 scores correlated with clinician-rated anxiety scores and differentiated symptom severity. Our copy does not report α = 0.92 or establish reliability in adolescents (searched: 0.92, Cronbach’s alpha, internal consistency). The adult portion is attributed to a different citation. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAmong adolescents, both PHQ-9 and GAD-7 demonstrate good sensitivity and specificity for detecting clinically significant symptoms.
“Among adolescents, both PHQ-9 and GAD-7 demonstrate good sensitivity and specificity for detecting clinically significant symptoms [26, 28].”
From Social networking site use, depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescents: evidence from a longitudinal cohort study (SCAMP) (2026) · cites this paper as [28]
The GAD-7 is a psychometrically sound seven-item self-report scale for assessing symptoms of anxiety.
“The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale is a psychometrically sound seven-item self-report scale used to assess symptoms of anxiety. 49,50”
From Virtual psychoeducation for improvement of pain catastrophizing in pediatric presurgical patients and caregivers: a proof-of-concept study (2023) · cites this paper as [49]
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“The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 is a validated, reliable, and sensitive to treatment-related changes tool that assesses anxiety symptoms in youth [76].”
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- Authors
- Mossman, S. A., Luft, M. J., Schroeder, H. K., Varney, S. T., Fleck, D. E., Barzman, D. H., Gilman, R., DelBello, M. P., & Strawn, J. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Cincinnati (US)
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Strawn, Jeffrey R.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of Clinical Psychiatry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-11
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 227-234
- ISSN
- 1040-1237 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-3325
- PMC
- PMC5765270
- OpenAlex
- W2899744143
- Cited by
- 471
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 53 · 2025: 74 · 2024: 80 · 2023: 83 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 60 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 17.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Annals of Clinical Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5k23mh106037-04)
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23-MH106037)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- GAD-7, generalized anxiety disorder, adolescents, symptom severity, sensitivity and specificity
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Reproducibility of Results, Self Report
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