Test-retest reliability of anxiety symptoms and diagnoses with the anxiety disorders interview schedule for DSM-IV: Child and parent versions

Objective: To examine the test-retest reliability of the DSM-IV anxiety symptoms and disorders in children with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child and Parent Versions (ADIS for DSM-IV:C/P). Method: Sixty-two children (aged 7-16 years) and their parents underwent two administrations of the ADIS for DSM-IV:C/P with a test-retest interval of 7 to 14 days. Results and Conclusions: Results revealed that the ADIS for DSM-IV:C/P is a reliable instrument for deriving DSM-IV anxiety disorder symptoms and diagnoses in children. The ADIS for DSM-IV:C/P was found to have excellent reliability in symptom scale scores for separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder and good to excellent reliability for deriving combined diagnoses of these disorders, as well as using child-only and parent-only interview information. Reliability coefficients were generally similar and, in most instances, superior to those found in previous ADIS-C/P reliability studies. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.