- Home
- Assessments
Mental health assessments for kids, teens, and parents
A mental health assessment starts with a validated screener: a short questionnaire that measures symptoms the same way clinicians do. Six of the 14 instruments below are free to take online privately, with with strong caveats and limitations, and the rest are explained so you know what a clinician would run in care.
Anxiety assessments
Anxiety is the most common reason families look for a screener, and the right instrument depends on age.
- SCARED Ages 8 to 18 · 41 questions, about 5 minutes · in clinical use since 1997. Built at the University of Pittsburgh, it covers general, separation, social, and school anxiety in matching parent and child versions.
- SCARED social subscale Ages 8 to 18 · 7 questions, about 2 minutes · in clinical use since 1997. Measures fear of embarrassment, speaking up, and being watched.
- GAD-7 Teens and adults · 7 questions, about 2 minutes · in clinical use since 2006. Measures worry over the last two weeks and grades it from minimal to severe.
- Learn more: the condition (Anxiety in kids and teens · Social anxiety)
Depression and mood assessments
Mood screeners ask about the last two weeks, so they work well for tracking change between visits.
- PHQ-9 Teens and adults · 9 questions, about 2 minutes · in clinical use since 2001. Measures mood over the last two weeks and points to help if an answer signals risk.
- RCADS-25 Ages 8 to 18 · 25 items, administered in care · in clinical use since 2012. Combines anxiety and depression in one score. We send it between visits in care.
- Learn more: the condition (Depression in kids and teens)
ADHD assessments
ADHD screening leans on parent and teacher ratings, and diagnosis takes a clinical evaluation, not a form alone.
- SNAP-IV Ages 6 to 17 · 18 items, administered in care · in clinical use since 1992. Rates attention and hyperactivity. The page explains what the subscales mean.
- NICHQ Vanderbilt Ages 6 to 12 · Parent form, administered in care · in clinical use since 2002. Most pediatricians use this parent rating. The page explains the subscales and the teacher form.
- ASRS Adults · Administered in care · in clinical use since 2005. Built by the World Health Organization, it helps parents who recognize their child’s symptoms in themselves.
- Learn more: the condition (ADHD in kids and teens) · our testing service (Comprehensive ADHD testing)
OCD assessments
OCD scales only make sense once obsessions and compulsions are told apart, so both pages start with definitions.
- CY-BOCS Ages 6 to 17 · Administered in care · in clinical use since 1997. Runs as a clinician-led interview. The page shows what each severity range means.
- Y-BOCS Teens and adults · Administered in care · in clinical use since 1989. Shows how clinicians rate time, interference, distress, resistance, and control.
- Learn more: the condition (OCD in kids and teens)
Trauma and PTSD assessments
Trauma screeners ask about hard experiences directly, so take them somewhere private and stop if it feels like too much.
- CATS Ages 7 to 17 · About 5 minutes · in clinical use since 2017. Asks about hard experiences and the symptoms that can follow them.
- ACE Adults, about childhood · 10 questions, about 2 minutes · in clinical use since 1998. Counts adverse childhood experiences from the landmark CDC-Kaiser study and helps you read your number.
- Learn more: the condition (PTSD and trauma in kids)
Autism and behavior assessments
Autism screening is a starting point. An evaluation uses observation and developmental history.
- AQ-10 Child Ages 4 to 11 · Administered in care · in clinical use since 2012. Flags autism traits worth a closer look. An evaluation uses much more than a questionnaire.
- SNAP-IV ODD subscale Ages 6 to 17 · 8 items, administered in care · in clinical use since 1992. Rates defiance, anger, and rule-breaking. The page explains what scores can and cannot say alone.
- Learn more: the condition (Autism in kids and teens · ODD in kids and teens) · our testing service (Comprehensive autism testing)
How a mental health evaluation works
A screener is the first step, not the last. When a score sits in a range clinicians take a closer look at, the next step is a mental health evaluation: a clinician interviews you and your child, takes a developmental and family history, and often collects ratings from more than one person, like a parent and a teacher. The diagnosis, if there is one, comes from that whole picture.
Parent-completed checklists can also run higher or lower than a clinician’s own rating, which is why every result page here says what the instrument was built for, who normally administers it, and what a clinician would do with the score. Screeners on Emora are scored automatically, and no clinician sees your answers unless you book a visit.
When a screener is not enough: psychological assessment
Some questions need formal psychological assessment rather than a questionnaire: telling ADHD from anxiety, confirming autism, or getting a diagnostic report a school will accept for a 504 plan or IEP. Licensed psychologists at Emora run comprehensive ADHD testing and autism testing by video, using telehealth-validated instruments, with a feedback session and a written report for the family, the school, and the pediatrician.
Mental health screening tools for providers and schools
Age-matched scales for depression and anxiety go out to families automatically between visits through the Emora Care Platform, scores land in the chart before the session, and the clinician decides what they mean. Pediatricians, schools, and health systems that refer families to Emora get measurement-based care with updates back to the referring team, within consent.
Common questions
Six of the 14 screeners here are free to take online, with strong caveats and limitations. The rest are instruments we administer inside care, like the Vanderbilt and the CY-BOCS, and their pages explain how clinicians use and score them.
No. A screener measures symptoms and tells you whether what you are seeing sits in a range clinicians usually take a closer look at. Diagnosis takes a clinical evaluation: an interview, history, and often more than one rater. Every result page says this plainly and shows the next step.
A screening is a short, validated questionnaire that flags whether a concern is worth a closer look. An assessment or evaluation is the closer look: a clinician combines interviews, history, rating scales from more than one person, and sometimes psychological testing to reach a diagnosis and a treatment plan.
Start with the concern you are seeing, not the instrument. Worry and avoidance point to the SCARED for ages 8 to 18 or the GAD-7 for teens and parents. Low mood points to the PHQ-9. Attention and hyperactivity point to the ADHD pages. If you are unsure, the SCARED and PHQ-9 together cover the two most common concerns.
Yes. The free screeners are scored automatically, and answers are kept locally in your browser, and no clinician at Emora sees your answers unless you book a visit and choose to share them.