Abstract
A growing body of research suggests that, apart from the wording of specific questions, various aspects of the interview process itself may affect the reliability of information provided by research participants. To examine whether the order of presentation of specific diagnostic modules affects the likelihood of subjects' yes/no responses within the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), the authors used a counterbalanced design, presenting two DISC diagnostic modules to children and their parents in standard or reversed order. Results indicate that the order of module administration exerts effects on the total numbers of symptoms endorsed, level of impairment, and the likelihood of meeting diagnostic criteria, regardless of whether the information is provided by parent or child respondents. Future child and adult assessment measures should take these difficulties fully into account through novel approaches to instrument design and interview procedures.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University Associates in Psychiatry.
Ambrosini, P. J., Metz, C., Prabucki, K., & Lee, J. C. (1989). Videotape reliability of the third revised edition of the K-SADS. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 723-728.
Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (1995). A test-retest reliability study of child-reported psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA-C). Psychological Medicine, 25, 755-762.
Coddington, R. D. (1972). The significance of life events as etiologic factors in the diseases of children: A study of a normal population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 16, 205-213.
Edelbrock, C., Costello, A. J., Dulcan, M. K., Conover, N. C., & Kalas, R. (1988). Age differences in the reliability of the psychiatric interview of the child. Child Development, 56, 265-275.
Edelbrock, C., Crnic, K., & Bohnert, A. (1999). Interviewing as communication: An alternative way of administering the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 447-453.
Gould, M. S., Bird, H., & Jaramillo, B. S. (1993). Correspondence between statistically derived behavior problem syndromes and child psychiatric diagnoses in a community sample. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 287-313.
Hodges, K. (1993). Structured interviews for assessing children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 49-68.
Jensen, P. S., Roper, M., Fisher, P., Piacentini, J., Canino, G., Richters, J., Rubio-Stipec, M., Dulcan, M., Goodman, S. H., Davies, M., Rae, D., Shaffer, D., Bird, H., Lahey, B., & Schwab-Stone, M. (1995). Test-retest reliability of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC 2.1): Parent, child, and combined algorithms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 61-71.
Jensen, P. S., Salzberg, A. D., Richters, J., Watanabe, H. K., & Roper, M. (1993). Scales, diagnoses, and child psychopathology. 1. CBCL and DISC relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 397-406.
Jensen, P. S., Watanabe, H. K., Richters, J. E., Roper, M., Hibbs, E., Salzberg, A. D., & Liu, S. (1996). Scales, diagnoses, and child psychopathology. II. Comparing the CBCL and the DISC against external validators. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 151-168.
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., Williamson, D., & 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 and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980-988.
Kessler, R. C., Little, R. J., & Groves, R. M. (1995). Advances in strategies for minimizing and adjusting for survey non-response. Epidemiology Review, 17, 192-204.
Lahey, B., Applegate, B., McBurnett, K., Biederman, J., Greenhill, L., Hynd, G. W., Barkley, R., Newcorn, J., Jensen, P., Richters, J., Garfinkel, B., Kerdyk, L., Frick, P., Ollendick, T., Perez, D., Hart, E., Waldman, I., & Shaffer, D. (1994). DSM IV field trials for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adolescents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1673-1685.
Lucas, C. P., Fisher P., Piacentini, J., Zhang, H., Jensen, P. S., Shaffer, D., Dulcan, M., Schwab-Stone, M., Regier, D., & Canino, G. (1999). Features of interview questions associated with attenuation of symptom reports. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 429-437.
Marlowe, D. (1987). Unit manning system field evaluation (Technical Report No. 5). Washington, DC: Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Pearlin, L. I., & Schooler, C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19, 2-21.
Piacentini, J., Roper, M., Jensen, P., Lucas, C., Shaffer, D., Dulcan, M., Schwab-Stone, M., Regier, D., & Canino, G. (1999). Attenuation and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children: Individual factors predicting attenuation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
Reich, W., Cottler, L., McCallum, K., Corwin, D., & VanEerdewegh, M. (1995). Computerized interviews as a method of assessing psychopathology in children. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 36, 40-45.
Schwab-Stone, M., Fallon, T., Briggs, M., & Crowther, B. (1994). Reliability of diagnostic testing for children ages 6–11 years: A test-retest study of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children—Revised. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1048-1054.
Schwab-Stone, M. E., Shaffer, D., Dulcan, M. K., Jensen, P. S., Fisher, P., Bird, H. R., Goodman, S. H., Lahey, B. B., Lichtman, J. H., Canino, G., Rubio-Stipec, M., & Rae, D. S. (1996). Criterion validity of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 2.3 (DISC-2.3). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 878-888.
Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Dulcan, M., Davies, M., Piacentini, J., Schwab-Stone, M., Lahey, B., Bourdon, K., Jensen, P., Bird, H., Canino, G., & Regier, D. (1996). The second version of the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-2). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 865-877.
Shaffer, D., Schwab-Stone, M., Fisher, P., Cohen, P., Piacentini, J., Davies, M., Edelbrock, C., & Regier, D. (1993). Revised version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-R): I. Preparation, field testing, and acceptability. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 643-650.
Sharpley, C. F., & Cross, D. G. (1982). A psychometric evaluation of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 7, 739-741.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jensen, P.S., Watanabe, H.K. & Richters, J.E. Who's Up First? Testing for Order Effects in Structured Interviews Using a Counterbalanced Experimental Design. J Abnorm Child Psychol 27, 439–445 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021927909027
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021927909027