Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale-Second Edition (RCMAS-2) and Prevalence of Anxiety Among School-Aged Children in Sikkim, India

Childhood anxiety is a significant mental health concern in India. Although the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale-Second Edition (RCMAS-2) is widely used internationally, its psychometric performance in Indian populations is underexplored. This study evaluated the reliability, validity, and preliminary normative data of the RCMAS-2 in a large Indian school sample. A total of 1001 children (52.4% boys; ages 7–10, M = 8.45, SD = 1.17) completed the RCMAS-2 and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). After excluding 117 for high Defensiveness (>7) or Inconsistent Responding (>6), analyses on 884 children examined descriptive statistics, intercorrelations, convergent validity, age/gender differences, and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis using RCMAS-2 Total T > 60. Mean Total Anxiety T-score was 52.75 (SD = 9.53), with 28.5% of children scoring in the elevated range (T > 60). Subscale intercorrelations and structural analyses closely replicated U.S. normative patterns. The RCMAS-2 Total score showed moderate convergent validity with the BAI (r = 0.498). The BAI demonstrated acceptable classification accuracy against the RCMAS-2 threshold (AUC = 0.612). No significant gender differences emerged; older children (9–10 years) reported higher anxiety than younger children (Cohen’s d = 0.38). The RCMAS-2 shows good psychometric properties like other validated anxiety measures in India and is recommended for screening 7–10-year-olds, with further validation needed in different regions. The high anxiety levels underscore the need for targeted mental health programs in Indian schools.