Which instrument is designed to screen for anxiety in children?

• A. Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale
• B. Beck Anxiety Inventory
• C. SCL-90-R
• D. BASC

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is identifying a tool that is specifically built to screen anxiety in children. The Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale fits that need exactly. It’s a self-report measure designed for kids and adolescents, using a simple yes/no format that young respondents can handle. It provides a total anxiety score and is geared toward detecting manifest anxiety in a pediatric population, often with a built-in lie or defensiveness check to gauge response validity. In practical terms, it's a quick screening instrument that clinicians and schools use to flag elevated anxiety levels for further evaluation.

The other measures serve different purposes or populations. The Beck Anxiety Inventory is intended for adults (and older adolescents) and isn’t tailored to children. The SCL-90-R is a broad symptom checklist used with adults and older youths to screen for a wide range of psychological problems, not specifically designed for pediatric anxiety. The BASC covers multiple behavior and emotional domains and is a comprehensive assessment system rather than a tool focused narrowly on screening anxiety in children.