Scalar tetraquark states are studied within the diquark-antidiquark picture in a non-relativistic approach. We consider two types of confining potentials, a quadratic and a linear one, to which we also add spin-spin, isospin-isospin, and spin-isospin interactions. We calculate the masses of the scalar diquarks and of the ground-state open and hidden charmed and bottom scalar tetraquarks.Our results indicate that the scalar resonances D * 0 (2400) and Ds(2632) have a sizable tetraquark amount in their wave function, while, on the other hand, it turns out that the scalar states D * s0 (2317) and X(3915) should not be considered as being predominantly diquark-antidiquark bound states. We also investigate the masses of light scalar diquarks and tetraquarks, which are comparable to the measured masses of the light scalar mesons.