Youth Anxiety & Worry Assessment
A detailed private Backing U self-assessment designed to help you reflect on anxiety and worry in young people, including overthinking, physical tension, fear of mistakes, avoidance and difficulty switching off. It looks across worrying about lots of things at once, finding it hard to stop worrying once it starts, feeling anxiety in my body, such as tension, racing heart or unsettled breathing, avoiding things because I expect them to feel scary or embarrassing and worry affecting sleep, school, friendships or everyday activities. The assessment contains 20 questions and is intended to give you a structured wellbeing snapshot, highlight the areas having the greatest effect, and provide practical recommendations for what to do next. It is not designed to diagnose a condition or replace an individual professional assessment.
The Youth Anxiety & Worry Assessment is a Backing U educational wellbeing and self-reflection tool. It is not a validated diagnostic instrument, does not provide a clinical diagnosis and does not replace individual assessment or advice from a qualified professional. For young people, results should be interpreted in context and discussed with a trusted adult or qualified professional when concerns are significant. Scores are influenced by how questions are understood and by the timeframe selected. If several items are marked N/A, the total may be lower and should be interpreted cautiously; individual responses may be more informative than the total score. If difficulties are severe, rapidly worsening, affecting basic functioning or creating safety concerns, seek appropriate professional or urgent support. External resources are provided for further reading and support only. They are operated by independent Australian or UK organisations and their inclusion does not imply endorsement of this Backing U tool.
I have noticed worrying about lots of things at once.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Worrying about lots of things at once has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Worrying about lots of things at once has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of worrying about lots of things at once.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have noticed finding it hard to stop worrying once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Finding it hard to stop worrying once it starts has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Finding it hard to stop worrying once it starts has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of finding it hard to stop worrying once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have noticed feeling anxiety in my body, such as tension, racing heart or unsettled breathing.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Feeling anxiety in my body, such as tension, racing heart or unsettled breathing has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Feeling anxiety in my body, such as tension, racing heart or unsettled breathing has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of feeling anxiety in my body, such as tension, racing heart or unsettled breathing.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have noticed avoiding things because I expect them to feel scary or embarrassing.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Avoiding things because I expect them to feel scary or embarrassing has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Avoiding things because I expect them to feel scary or embarrassing has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of avoiding things because I expect them to feel scary or embarrassing.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have noticed worry affecting sleep, school, friendships or everyday activities.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Worry affecting sleep, school, friendships or everyday activities has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Worry affecting sleep, school, friendships or everyday activities has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of worry affecting sleep, school, friendships or everyday activities.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied very strongly or almost all the time. There are no right or wrong answers. Use N/A only if the question genuinely does not fit your situation.
Recommended next steps, reading & support
Suggested Australian / UK reading and support resources (external sites): headspace – Anxiety in young people: https://headspace.org.au/explore-topics/for-young-people/anxiety/ | Kids Helpline – Anxiety: https://www.kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/anxiety | Kids Helpline – How to manage anxiety: https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/how-manage-anxiety | Lifeline – Support Toolkit: https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/support-toolkit. Young people can also contact Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 for free 24/7 support. These links are provided as independent educational and support resources; inclusion does not imply that the external organisation has reviewed or endorsed this Backing U assessment. Use your result as a starting point, review the questions that stand out most, choose realistic next steps, and seek professional support where difficulties are persistent, worsening or affecting safety or everyday functioning.
Keep or share a copy of your result
You can email a copy of this result to yourself. You can separately choose whether Backing U may receive an anonymous copy of your responses and result for quality improvement and research.
The Youth Anxiety & Worry Assessment is a Backing U educational wellbeing and self-reflection tool. It is not a validated diagnostic instrument, does not provide a clinical diagnosis and does not replace individual assessment or advice from a qualified professional. For young people, results should be interpreted in context and discussed with a trusted adult or qualified professional when concerns are significant. Scores are influenced by how questions are understood and by the timeframe selected. If several items are marked N/A, the total may be lower and should be interpreted cautiously; individual responses may be more informative than the total score. If difficulties are severe, rapidly worsening, affecting basic functioning or creating safety concerns, seek appropriate professional or urgent support. External resources are provided for further reading and support only. They are operated by independent Australian or UK organisations and their inclusion does not imply endorsement of this Backing U tool.