The current study evaluated the feasibility and validity of a parent-report measure of separation anxiety, the Separation Anxiety Daily Diary (SADD). Mother and child participants consisted of three groups: 96 children (aged 4-15 years) with separation anxiety disorder, 49 children with "other" anxiety disorders, and 43 healthy controls. The SADD assesses the frequency of anxiety-provoking and non-anxiety-provoking separations, along with associated parental anxiety, thoughts, child behaviors, and corresponding parental reactions. The SADD demonstrated acceptable compliance and convergent validity with hypothesized measures. Substantial improvement in the prediction of diagnostic group membership was shown when SADD items assessing child symptoms were added to information gathered from a separation anxiety symptom questionnaire.

This report describes the feasibility and psychometric properties of the child version of the Separation Anxiety Daily Diary (SADD-C) in 125 children (ages 7-14 years) from German-speaking areas of Switzerland. Children with separation anxiety disorder (SAD; n = 58), "other" anxiety disorders (n = 36), and healthy controls (n = 31) recorded the frequency of parent-child separations, along with associated anxiety, thoughts, reactions and subsequent parental responses. Compliance rates were modest, consistent with past research on self-report diaries with anxious children. The SADD-C was better at discriminating children with SAD from controls than "other anxious" children. The SADD-C demonstrated good convergent validity with maternal and child self-reported anxiety (Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale, Separation Anxiety Inventory) and perceived quality of life (Inventory for Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents). Results provide support for the SADD-C as an acceptable and valid method of assessing child symptoms and parent behavior on separation. Findings are discussed with regard to the clinical utility of the SADD-C and strategies to improve compliance.

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