An assessment of structured diagnostic interviews for adult anxiety disorders

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Abstract
Structured diagnostic interviews have been developed to aid reliable diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. Five of the available interviews are reviewed with respect to adult anxiety disorders: the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Revised (ADIS-R), the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). Each of these assessment instruments is compared concerning their relative merits, psychometric properties, and usefulness to practicing clinicians and researchers. It is concluded that structured interviews increase diagnostic reliability. Since reliability is a prerequisite for validity, structured diagnostic interviews represent a necessary addition to research clinical assessment.