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Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Angold, A; Erkanli, A; Copeland, W; Goodman, R; Fisher, PW; Costello, EJ
Published in: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
May 2012

OBJECTIVE: To compare examples of three styles of psychiatric interviews for youth: the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) ("respondent-based"), the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA) ("interviewer-based"), and the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA) ("expert judgment"). METHOD: Roughly equal numbers of males and females of white and African American ethnicity, aged 9 to 12 and 13 to 16 years, were recruited from primary care pediatric clinics. Participants (N = 646) were randomly assigned to receive two of the three interviews, in counterbalanced order. Five modules were used: any depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. At two sessions about 1 week apart, parent and child completed one of two interviews plus five screening questionnaires. RESULTS: When interviewed with the DAWBA, 17.7% of youth had one or more diagnoses, compared with 47.1% (DISC) and 32.4% (CAPA). The excess of DISC diagnoses was accounted for by specific phobias. Agreement between interview pairs was 0.13 to 0.48 for DAWBA-DISC comparisons, 0.21 to 0.61 for DISC-CAPA comparisons, and 0.23 to 0.48 for CAPA-DAWBA comparisons. DAWBA-only cases were associated with higher parent-report questionnaire scores than DISC/DAWBA cases, but equivalent child-report scores. CONCLUSIONS: The DAWBA is shorter and cases were probably more severe, making it a good choice for clinical trials, but the user cannot examine the data in detail. The DISC and CAPA are similar in length and training needs. Either would be a better choice where false-negative results must be avoided, as in case-control genetic studies, or when researchers need to study individual symptoms in detail.

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Published In

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1527-5418

Publication Date

May 2012

Volume

51

Issue

5

Start / End Page

506 / 517

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Personality Assessment
  • Observer Variation
  • Mental Disorders
  • Mass Screening
  • Male
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Humans
  • Female
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Angold, A., Erkanli, A., Copeland, W., Goodman, R., Fisher, P. W., & Costello, E. J. (2012). Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 51(5), 506–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2012.02.020
Angold, Adrian, Alaattin Erkanli, William Copeland, Robert Goodman, Prudence W. Fisher, and E Jane Costello. “Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 51, no. 5 (May 2012): 506–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2012.02.020.
Angold A, Erkanli A, Copeland W, Goodman R, Fisher PW, Costello EJ. Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2012 May;51(5):506–17.
Angold, Adrian, et al. “Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, vol. 51, no. 5, May 2012, pp. 506–17. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2012.02.020.
Angold A, Erkanli A, Copeland W, Goodman R, Fisher PW, Costello EJ. Psychiatric diagnostic interviews for children and adolescents: a comparative study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2012 May;51(5):506–517.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1527-5418

Publication Date

May 2012

Volume

51

Issue

5

Start / End Page

506 / 517

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Personality Assessment
  • Observer Variation
  • Mental Disorders
  • Mass Screening
  • Male
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Humans
  • Female