EVALUATION OF THE DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS FOR USE IN GENERAL-POPULATION SAMPLES

This article presents evaluative data on the use of the Diagnostic Int erview for Children and Adolescents-Revised (DICA-R) to classify DSM-I II-R disorders in the general population. Data for the analyses came f rom a probability sample (N = 251) of parent-child/adolescent dyads ag ed 6 to 16 separately administered the DICA-R on two occasions, 10- to 20 days apart, by trained lay interviewers and child psychiatrists. D ata are presented on prevalence, test-retest reliability, parent-child /adolescent agreement, and trained lay interviewer-child psychiatrist agreement. High prevalences of oppositional defiant disorder derived f rom parent assessments and overanxious disorder and dysthymia derived from adolescent assessments suggest that these disorders may be overid entified. Interview data provided by 6- to 11-year olds to classify th e internalizing disorders were too unreliable to be useful. Agreement between parent-child/adolescent dyads was generally low while agreemen t between trained lay interviewers-child psychiatrists was generally h igh.