Test-retest reliability of the Chinese version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Version 4 (DISC-IV)

Background: Despite the huge youth population, there is a lack of psychiatric diagnostic instruments with reported psychometric properties in Chinese. This study reports the development of the Chinese version of DISC-IV and examines its test-retest reliability. Method: Seventy-eight parents and 79 youths ( mean age 13.1 years) attending child psychiatric clinics were interviewed twice using the Chinese DISC-IV ( Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-IV) about 22 days apart. Results: The kappa coefficients were good to excellent for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) ( both youth (Y) and parent ( P) versions), major depressive disorder (MDD) ( P), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ( P); fair for anxiety disorder ( P), oppositional defiant disorder ( ODD) ( P, Y), MDD ( Y); but poor for anxiety disorder ( Y) and ADHD ( Y). Parent informants had better test-retest reliability than youth informants. Conclusions: The Chinese DISC-IV had comparable test-retest reliability with the original English version.