CONSISTENCY IN DIAGNOSES FOR A SAMPLE OF ADOLESCENTS AT A PRIVATE PSYCHIATRIC-HOSPITAL

The consistency of psychiatric, psychological, and discharge diagnoses for a sample of 97 adolescent inpatients at a private psychiatric and substance abuse hospital in the Mid-South was investigated. Percentag e agreement between the initial evaluations, psychological evaluations , and the exit evaluations ranged from 61.7% to 81.6%. Agreement, howe ver, varied by diagnosis. The findings revealed relatively strong inte rrater agreement from the psychiatric diagnosis to the discharge evalu ation for depression, but interrater agreement for the nondepression d iagnoses was highly inconsistent. Assessment specialists and persons w ho work with at-risk adolescents are encouraged to evaluate carefully the consistency of diagnostic decisions on adolescents with whom they work.