Anxiety in youth in Flemish care: a multi-informant study

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of anxiety in youngsters with emotional and behavioral disorders, and its relation to other problems, using different informants. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in a Flemish treatment center. Educators completed a Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for each child, teachers completed a Teacher Report Form (TRF), and youth themselves completed a Youth Self Report (YSR) and a Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Findings – Analyses indicated an explicit presence of anxiety. A clear relation was found between anxiety symptoms and internalizing problem behavior on the YSR, whereas only a slight relationship was found with the CBCL, and practically no relationship was found with the TRF. Only few correlations between anxiety and externalizing problems were found. Finally, youth themselves indicated strong correlations between anxiety and thought problems, whereas educators indicated strong correlations between youths’ anxiety and social problems. Originality/value – Several studies describe professionals’ difficulties to get a comprehensive perceptions of youths’ problems. This paper provides detailed insights in the nature of the informant discrepancies.