Validation of the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (ChIPS) with psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the concurrent validity of the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes (ChIPS) for adolescent inpatients.

METHOD: Participants included 97 adolescents ages 12 to 18 admitted to an adolescent inpatient unit. Participants were administered the ChIPS and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (present questions only). Participants also completed self-report measures of adjustment (e.g., the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale-2).

RESULTS

More diagnoses were made with the ChIPS (mean 4.44) compared to the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (mean 3.04; p <.001). The percentage of agreement ranged from 59% to 98%. Kappa coefficients indicated agreement ranging from slight for oppositional defiant disorder (kappa = .18) to substantial for substance use (kappa = .66); the majority of kappa values ranged from .26 to.60. When ChIPS endorsements were examined relative to construct-specific self-report measures of impairment, adolescents diagnosed by the ChIPS with a disorder scored significantly higher than adolescents who were not diagnosed with a disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate moderate agreement between ChIPS diagnoses and Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version diagnoses. ChIPS diagnoses appear consistent with self-report measures of adjustment.