Psychopathologisches Befund-System für Kinder und Jugendliche (CASCAP-2)

The Child and Adolescent Psychopathological Assessment System (CASCAP-2) is designed to capture the most important features of mental disorders in children and adolescents. With the help of CASCAP-2, over 100 psychopathological features can be clinically assessed. The clinician evaluates based on a clinical exploration of the child or adolescent and their accompanying caregivers, as well as their own observations during the examination.

CASCAP-2 consists of three components: the assessment form, the glossary, and the exploration guide. The glossary defines each feature, provides examples of strong symptom expression, and lists distinguishing characteristics. The exploration guide includes example questions and is available in two versions, one for exploring the child or adolescent and one for exploring the caregivers. The clinical assessments are documented on a separately available assessment form.

CASCAP-2 is the successor to CASCAP-D. Several psychopathological features have been added to the assessment system. Accordingly, the glossary and assessment form have been revised, and the exploration guide has been expanded. The manual includes additional empirical studies and introduces a new empirical scale model.

CASCAP-2 complements categorical diagnostics with a phenomenological description of mental disorders in children and adolescents at the level of individual symptoms. This practice-oriented instrument can be easily integrated into clinical routine processes.