The development of a child assessment interview for research and clinical use

Abstract

The Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) was developed to address the need for a standardized child interview that could be used for research and clinical purposes. The CAS has several distinguishing characteristics: (1) Questions and responses are standardized, (2) the format was designed to enhance rapport with the child, and (3) information necessary for DSM III childhood diagnoses is explicitly solicited. The CAS was administered to 32 child outpatients, 18 inpatients, and 37 normal controls. Derived scores were obtained for total psychopathology, 11 content areas, and 9 symptom complexes. Interrater reliability for the total CAS score was quite high. The CAS was able to discriminate among the three groups in total score indicating degree of psychopathology, on 9 of the 11 content areas, and on 8 of the 9 symptom complexes. Significant correlations were found between the CAS and maternal report of child behavior and between the CAS and child self-report of internal affects. It was concluded that the CAS has adequate reliability and validity, although further research is indicated.

The Dominance of Behavioural Activation over Behavioural Inhibition in Conduct Disordered Boys with or without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…This information was gathered in an 8-week clinical assessment period, during which psychiatrists and residents provided feedback on the diagnoses every 2 weeks on the basis of discussions of accumulated case information. In the special school, diagnoses were based on a semistructured psychiatric interview with the child (Child Assessment Schedule ; Hodges, Kline, Stern, Cytryn, & McKnew, 1982) and an interview with the child's teacher conducted by a graduate educational psychologist. In order to describe subjects from a dimensional point of view, the CBCL (Achenbach, 1991 ;Verhulst et al, 1985) was completed by each subject's primary caretaker.…”

Disease and family contributors to adaptation in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile diabetes

“…Matched to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised criteria, the CAS contains a symptom report, including probes for onset and duration, and interviewer observations. The CAS has demonstrated good reliability and validity (17) and is considered appropriate for children ages 7 through 16 (18). In the present total sample of 309 children, only 5 children were older than 16, and the CAS scores for these children were computed based upon the norms for 16-year-olds.…”

The Relation of Child Maltreatment to Shame and Guilt Among Adolescents: Psychological Routes to Depression and Delinquency

“…Mothers responded to questions from the Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) (Hodges, Kline, Fitch, McKnew, & Cytryn, 1981), a standardized diagnostic interview with sound psychometric properties (Hodges, Cools, & McKnew, 1989;Hodges & Saunders, 1990). The CAS has been standardized on more than 2,000 individuals and testretest reliability has exceeded .80 on all subscales (Hodges et al, 1989).…”