New Publication from CAMHI: Validating Mental Health Screening Tools for Children and Adolescents in Greece

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A new study by CAMHI has been published in the peer-reviewed journal “Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes”, marking a significant scientific and actionable contribution to the field of child and adolescent mental health in Greece.

What Was Studied — and Why It Matters

Health professionals working with children and adolescents need reliable tools to identify mental health problems early. Until now, however, the absence of validated tools for the Greek population represented a significant gap in both clinical practice and research.

This new publication addresses exactly that gap. For the first time at a national level, six internationally widely used assessment tools were standardized:

  • PSC-17 — psychosocial functioning
  • RCADS-25 — anxiety and depression
  • CATS-2 — PTSD
  • SNAP-IV — ADHD and oppositional behavior
  • M-CHAT-R/F and CAST — autism spectrum disorder

A Sample That Reflects the Whole Country

The study drew on a large and representative sample: 1,756 parents and caregivers and 1,201 children and adolescents from across Greece, covering ages 1 to 18.

The Findings

Results showed that the tools demonstrate good to excellent psychometric properties in the Greek population, supporting the validity and reliability of their use in both everyday clinical practice and research.

In addition, normative data were developed for each tool, enabling health professionals to interpret scores taking into account the child’s age and sex—a resource that did not previously exist for the Greek population.

From Research to Clinical Practice

CAMHI does not stop at publishing findings. The validated tools are already being integrated into CAMHI’s training program for pediatricians and general practitioners to strengthen mental health screening skills in everyday clinical practice.

The publication is freely available in the Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes. Find the publication in English here.

The Children & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) program is designed and implemented by a nationwide network of public-sector mental health providers and professionals, in collaboration with the Child Mind Institute (New York) and with the support of the Ministry of Health.

The Children & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative is supported exclusively by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of the SNF's Global Health Initiative (GHI).