Hospital anxiety and depression scale for use among adolescents

Abstract

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS, Zigmond and Snaith, 1983) is a self-report instrument for assessing states of depression and anxiety suitable for use among both medical patients and general population in the community. Adolescence is a developmental transition from childhood to adulthood, with substantial physical and psychological changes. Description Adolescence occurs from about age 11 or 12 until the late teens or early twenties, with major physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes. Arnett (1999) described the transition as a period of “storm and stress,” with many other studies providing supporting evidence that adolescents tend to experience more emotional difficulties and have more frequent episodes of depressed mood than either children or adults (Buchanan & Holmbeck, 1998; Kessler et al., 2005). Indeed, onset of anxiety and depression often emerges during a ...