Screening for anxiety and depression in an adolescent clinic

The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were administered to 228 consecutive adolescent clinic patients and provisional physician diagnoses were compared with test scores obtained in 205 valid replies. The age range was 10 to 17 with a mean +/- SD of 14.3 +/- 1.8 years. Racial distribution was 176 white, 21 black, 4 Asian, and 4 other. The provisional diagnoses were categorized as follows: medical diagnosis only, 140; psychiatric diagnosis only, 45; and combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis, 20. Mean scores +/- SD for the entire study population were STAI-State 41.1 +/- 10.9, STAI-Trait 41.3 +/- 11.8, and CDI 10.1 +/- 8.3. Odds ratios showed that patients with only a psychiatric diagnosis had higher STAI scores than those with only a medical diagnosis and those with a combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis; patients with only a psychiatric diagnosis and those with a combined medical/psychiatric diagnosis had higher CDI scores than those with only a medical diagnosis. The medical records of 30 patients in the medical diagnosis category with high STAI and CDI scores were reviewed; of 140 patients with medical diagnoses, screening detected 15 patients (10.7%) who warranted further intervention for psychiatric disorders.