SYMPTOM SEVERITY IN BILINGUAL HISPANICS AS A FUNCTION OF CLINICIAN ETHNICITY AND LANGUAGE OF INTERVIEW

Research on bilingual patients is equivocal about how language influen ces clinical judgment in psychiatric interviews. In this study, 148 Hi spanics with schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders were int erviewed in English, Spanish, or both. Hispanic clinicians rated sympt oms more severe than did Angle clinicians, and severity was rated high est in bilingual interviews, followed by Spanish, and lowest in Englis h. Results have implications for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edition; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) cultural considerations.