Purpose of the Interview

The purpose of the interview was to investigate the presence of psychopathological symptoms and to establish psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents.

Interview Analysis

The interview was developed by Kaufman and colleagues in 1997 and is a semi-structured child psychiatric interview based on the adult questionnaire [SADS]. It is an evolution of the K-SADS-Present interview and has been standardized for the Greek clinical population of children and adolescents.

Scoring of the Interview

Each symptom is individually rated on a 4-point scale:
0 = no information available
1 = symptom not present
2 = subthreshold presence
3 = threshold or above-threshold presence
Scoring is based on the answers given by both the parents and the child. Additionally, a third composite score is provided, which integrates the previous two ratings with the clinician’s own clinical judgment.

Statistical Analysis

The overall score is used to record the presence or absence of a symptom that may indicate the onset of a psychological outcome.

Validity and Reliability of the Interview

The latest version of the K-SADS-PL interview is currently undergoing validation and reliability testing in the Greek population.

References

Chambers, W. J., Puig-Antich, J., Hirsch, M., Paez, P., Ambrosini, P. J., Tabrizi, M. A., & Davies, M. (1985). The assessment of affective disorders in children and adolescents by semi-structured interview: test-retest reliability of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present Episode Version. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42(7), 696–702.
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U. M. A., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., … & Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children–Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(7), 980–988.
Kolaitis, G., Korpa, T., Kolvin, I., & Tsiantis, J. (2003). Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children–Present Episode (K-SADS-P): A pilot inter-rater reliability study for Greek children and adolescents. European Psychiatry, 18(7), 374–375.
Trowell, J., Joffe, I., Campbell, J., Clemente, C., Almqvist, F., Soininen, M., … & Tsiantis, J. (2007). Childhood depression: A place for psychotherapy. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 16(3), 157–167.