A MODIFICATION OF THE STRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW FOR DSM-III-R TO EVALUATE METHADONE PATIENTS - TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY

The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-Substance Abuse Comorb idity version (SCID-SAC) was developed to detect treatable mood and an xiety syndromes among substance abusers based on the temporal relation ship of these disorders over the lifetime. The authors describe the in strument and report a study of test-retest reliability in 31 methadone maintenance patients prescreened for depression. Kappas for the combi ned category, Primary or Persistent During Abstinence, were 0.74 withi n major depression, 0.67 within any depressive syndrome, and 0.43 with in panic disorder, with intraclass correlations ages at onset and rati ngs of mood disorder chronicity at good levels. This finding suggests that such retrospective data can be reliably measured by use of the SC ID-SAC.