Reliability and stability of a semistructured DSM-IV interview designed for family studies.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the interrater reliability and stability of diagnoses, and to compare the results of in-person versus telephone administration of the Missouri Assessment of Genetics Interview for Children (the MAGIC), a new, semistructured, glossary-based diagnostic interview for children and adolescents.


METHODS
The interview was developed for a large-scale epidemiological family genetics study. For reliability measures, parent report on offspring, child self-report, and adolescent self-report interviews were independently scored by two different raters on a population-based sample of respondents. The stability of diagnoses was assessed by comparing repeat interviews of parents, children, and adolescents, separated on average by 13 months. Frequencies of parent and adolescent report of disorders were determined for telephone and in-person interviews.


RESULTS
High interrater reliabilities were achieved for individual DSM-IV symptoms and diagnoses and for individual characteristics of diagnostic domains, including number, clustering, duration, and impairment of symptoms. The stability of diagnoses was also high for parents and adolescents. No significant differences in the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and major depressive disorder were found for interviews administered in person or by telephone.


CONCLUSIONS
The MAGIC demonstrates high interrater reliability and stability for DSM-IV symptoms and diagnoses.
Todd
Richard D
RD
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid, Campus Box 8134, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. toddr@msnotes.wustl.edu
Joyner
Cynthia A
CA
Heath
Andrew C
AC
Neuman
Rosalind J
RJ
Reich
Wendy
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results