CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS USING THE STRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW FOR DSM-III FOR MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS ASSESSMENT

This paper focuses on the impact that culture has upon standardized or structured interviews. It briefly reviews how these interviews evolve d from a primary research function, what they can teach us about clini cal work, and the multiple ways that culture influences these supposed ly objective instruments and the diagnoses which follow from their use . Although the use of structured interviews and standardized diagnosti c criteria has been a major advance for the field in terms of reliabil ity, care needs to be exercised when evaluating individuals from dispa rate cultural backgrounds.