Parent and child acceptability and staff evaluation of K-SADS-PL: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Standardised diagnostic interviews are used increasingly in child and adolescent psychiatry; yet little is known about the attitudes towards such interviews among parents, children and staff members. In this study, we have aimed to assess (1) the K-SADS-PL's acceptability to parents and children (2) the usefulness of the interview as perceived by the staff.


METHODS
Following the implementation of a semi-structured diagnostic interview in the standard assessment, parents, children, and staff were asked to fill in, anonymously, a brief questionnaire enquiring about their impression of the interview.


RESULTS
Parental satisfaction with the parent interview was very high. Parental satisfaction with the child interview was high as well, although a small group of children were reported to be more sad/hyperactive or difficult immediately after the interview. However, these were found among the younger children only, and mainly children with conduct problems. Most children found that the interview was a good or fairly good way to talk about how they felt, but more than half the children found the interview boring to some extent, and a few felt worse after the interview than they did before. The staff found the interview to be useful in most cases, primarily for diagnostic purposes.


CONCLUSIONS
Semi-structured diagnostic interviews are well accepted by parents and children, and have good face validity among staff members. To young children with many conduct difficulties the interview may seem overwhelming, and future work should focus on ways of making diagnostic interviews more engaging for children.
Sørensen
Merete Juul
MJ
Psychiatric Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Aarhus University Hospital, Harald Selmersvej 66, 8240, Risskov, Denmark.
Thomsen
Per Hove
PH
Bilenberg
Niels
N
D000293:Adolescent; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires