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.