Measurement and Construct-Level Invariance of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS): Cross-Gender and Cross-Ethnicity Differences for Youth Living in the Netherlands

Measurement and construct-level invariance of the Dutch Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale's test scores (RCADS) across gender and ethnic (minority) backgrounds of the four largest ethnic groups of children living in the Netherlands (i.e., native Dutch; Moroccan; Turkish; or Surinamese/Antillean) was evaluated. Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depressive disorder were rated by 2,679 mainstream elementary schoolchildren (Mage = 10.61). Results from discrete multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses showed that factor means were generally insensitive to gender bias. However, moderate violations of measurement invariance between native Dutch and the three ethnic minority groups were found for social phobia, panic disorder, and separation anxiety disorder symptoms. Girls had higher mean levels on all RCADS subscales compared to boys. Furthermore, with a few exceptions, children from ethnic minority groups reported higher levels of symptoms of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder compared to native Dutch children. Scores derived from the RCADS are largely comparable between elementary school boys and girls, but for three out of six subscales, caution is warranted when comparing mean level differences of native Dutch children with children of Turkish, Moroccan, and Surinamese/Antillean ethnic backgrounds.