Diagnostic efficiency and validity of the DSM-oriented Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report scales in a clinical sample of Swedish youth

Publisher Copyright: Copyright: © 2021 Skarphedinsson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR) are widely used measures of psychiatric symptoms and lately also adapted to the DSM. The incremental validity of adding the scales to each other has not been studied. We validated the DSM subscales for affective, anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD), oppositional defiant (ODD), conduct problems (CD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in consecutively referred child and adolescent psychiatric outpatients (n = 267) against LEAD DSM-IV diagnoses based on the K-SADS-PL and subsequent clinical work-up. Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that the diagnostic efficiency for most scales were moderate with an area under the curve (AUC) between 0.70 and 0.90 except for CBCL CD, which had high accuracy (AUC>0.90) in line with previous studies showing the acceptable utility of the CBCL DSM scales and the YSR affective, anxiety, and CD scales, while YSR ODD and OCD had low accuracy (AUC<0.70). The findings mostly reveal incremental validity (using logistic regression analyses) for adding the adolescent to the parent version (or vice versa). Youth and parent ratings contributed equally to predict depression and anxiety disorders, while parent ratings were a stronger predictor for ADHD. However, the youth ADHD rating also contributed. Adding young people as informants for ODD and OCD or adding the parent for CD did not improve accuracy. The findings for depression, anxiety disorders, and ADHD support using more than one informant when conducting screening in a clinical context.Peer reviewe

Validity of the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview by comparison with Longitudinal Expert All Data diagnoses in outpatients

Background: The Brief Child and Family Phone Interview (BCFPI) is a standardized intake and follow-up interview used in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Although it has shown good validity compared with other measures using parent reports, it has not yet been compared with diagnoses derived from a Longitudinal Expert All Data (LEAD) procedure, which includes information from separate diagnostic interviews with parent(s) and child. The aim was to compare the BCFPI evaluation in an outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry setting with an evaluation derived from a LEAD procedure.Methods: At four Swedish outpatient CAMHS, 267 patients were interviewed at intake with the BCFPI. Within six weeks, patients and parents were interviewed separately with the 2009 version of the semi-structured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-age Children, Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) and parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). LEAD diagnoses were subsequently determined by two senior clinicians based on 1.2 years of clinical records including the K-SADS-PL and ensuing information from further assessments, psychological tests, information from teachers and other informants as well as treatment outcome. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders subscales from the CBCL and the subscales from the BCFPI were compared with LEAD diagnoses. These measured symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder.Results: The criterion validity for BCFPI versus LEAD diagnoses was fair for oppositional defiant disorder (area under curve, 0.73), generalized anxiety disorder (0.73) and major depressive disorder (0.78), good for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (0.81) and conduct disorder (0.83), and excellent for separation anxiety disorder (0.90). The screening properties of BCFPI and CBCL were similar.Conclusion: The BCFPI is a concise and valid tool, performed along with the larger and more established CBCL, in screening for major psychiatric disorders. It is well suited as an intake interview in CAMHS

Long-term Outcome, Suicidal behaviour, Quality of Life and Expressed Emotion in Adolescent Onset Psychotic Disorders

This study investigated a consecutive cohort of 88 youngsters with onset of a psychotic disorder at age 15.7 (sd 1.5) years and followed-up 10.6 (sd 3.6) years after first admission at the age of 26.5 (sd 3.7) years. A subsample of 15 subjects were assessed with the Five Minute Speech Sample for measuring Expressed Emotion and subsequent recording of relapses during a two year period. A diagnostic split between schizophrenia spectrum psychosis and affective psychotic disorder was usually stable over time. The main diagnostic shift was an influx to schizophrenia spectrum disorder of subjects with a better premorbid function and less insidious onset as compared to those with a stable schizophrenia diagnosis. Early onset schizophrenia spectrum disorder usually had a poor functional outcome. Most subjects needed support in the form of a disability pension. Early onset affective psychotic disorder usually had a good functional outcome. Most subjects worked and enjoyed regular friendships. The functional level before onset of illness was the best predictor of future functional level in psychotic disorders. A family history of non-affective psychosis predicted a worse function in schizophrenia. Frequent episodes and low intelligence predicted a worse function in affective disorders. Four men (4.5% of the sample) committed suicide. The risk of suicide was increased about 30 times. Almost a third of subjects attempted suicide. Females made more attempts. Suicide attempts were related to more depressive symptoms but less negative symptoms at first episode, to readmissions and to dependence on nicotine. Subjects with schizophrenia spectrum psychoses were less satisfied with life than those with affective psychotic disorder. Subjective satisfaction in schizophrenia was strongly associated to depressive mood while in affective disorders it was associated to degree of employment. Adolescents with psychosis in families rated high or borderline high in Expressed Emotion either during first episode or after discharge had an increased risk of relapse

Diagnostic stability in adolescent onset psychotic disorders

The purpose was to examine the long-term stability of a diagnosis of psychotic disorder in adolescence and to focus on diagnostic change over time. A total of 88 patients with a first episode of early onset psychosis (before 19 years) were followed up an average of 10.5 years (range 5.1-18.2) after admission. This report includes the 68 patients who could be traced and interviewed with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale and lifetime Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV diagnosis. An initial diagnostic split between schizophrenia spectrum and affective disorder had a good (> 80 %) Positive Predictive Validity and Sensitivity. The main diagnostic shift was an influx to schizophrenia spectrum disorder (n = 6). These patients resembled the stable affective group (n = 27) in premorbid and prodromal aspects but changed over time to resemble the poor outcome of the stable schizophrenia spectrum group (n = 28) albeit with fewer negative symptoms and a better social function. Family history of nonaffective psychosis in first or second degree relatives was often found in the "change to schizophrenia group". A diagnosis in adolescence of schizophrenia spectrum or affective psychotic disorder is usually stable over time. A subgroup of non-schizophrenia patients go on to develop a schizophrenia spectrum disorder

Expressed emotion and prediction of relapse in adolescents with psychotic disorders

Expressed emotion (EE) is associated with relapse in adults with psychotic disorders. EE was assessed both at admission and after discharge with the Five Minutes Speech Sample (FMSS) in adolescent in-patients with psychotic disorders (n=15). The results showed that while neither admission nor post-discharge high-EE predicted relapse, the aggregated EE from admission or after discharge significantly predicted both 1- and 2-year relapse rate when borderline ratings were included in the high-EE group. While predictive power and the sensitivity of admission high-EE and relapse was moderate, the specificity of this association was very high (0.9 or more). The aggregated EE measure yielded high sensitivity and high specificity to predict relapse. Despite the low statistical power of the study, the results indicate that FMSS may be a useful tool in determining the risk of relapse in adolescent psychosis

Predictive validity of the K-SADS-PL 2009 version in school-aged and adolescent outpatients

Background: The schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children (K-SADS) is one of the most commonly used standardized diagnostic interviews in child and adolescent psychiatry. Validity studies are scarce, and limited to concurrent validity with other measures and clinical diagnoses. Aims: To evaluate the K-SADS interview in an outpatient child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) setting with a Longitudinal Expert All Data (LEAD) procedure. Methods: CAP residents performed a K-SADS-PL interview with the revised 2009 version containing the new PDD section on 239 clinically referred outpatients of 6–17 years old and their parent(s). A consensus LEAD diagnosis by two senior clinicians 1.2 (SD = 0.6) years later was based on clinical records including the K-SADS and subsequent information from further assessments, information from teachers and other informants, outcome of treatment, and at least three visits after the K-SADS. Results: Predictive validity for K-SADS vs LEAD diagnoses were good-to-excellent for broader categories of anxiety disorders (κ = 0.94), depressive (κ = 0.91), behavioural (κ = 0.91) and tic (κ = 0.81) disorders, good for ADHD (κ = 0.80), and good-to-moderate for autism spectrum disorders (κ = 0.62). Bipolar, psychotic, and eating disorders were too few to be analysed. Conclusion: The K-SADS diagnoses elicited from an interview with the child and one from parents on one occasion have an excellent validity for most major child psychiatric disorders. ADHD can be reliably diagnosed at one visit, but clinicians need to stay alert for possible undiagnosed ADHD. Diagnosing autism with K-SADS-PL 2009 version at one visit is not advisable

Evaluation of a new model for assessment and treatment of uncomplicated ADHD–effect, patient satisfaction and costs

Aim: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common diagnosis within child- and adolescent psychiatry. Waiting lists and delayed care are major issues. The aim was to evaluate if standardized care (SC) for assessment and treatment of uncomplicated ADHD would reduce resource utilization and increase satisfaction with preserved improvement within the first year of treatment. Method: Patients 6–12 years with positive screen for uncomplicated ADHD at the brief child and family phone interview (BCFPI), a routine clinical procedure, were triaged to SC. The control group consisted of patients diagnosed with ADHD in 2014 and treated as usual. BCFPI factors at baseline and follow-up after one year and resource utilization were compared. Results: Patients improved in ADHD symptoms (Cohen’s d = 0.78, p < 0.001), child function (Cohen’s d = 0.80, p < 0.001) and in family situation (Cohen’s d = 0.61, p < 0.001) without group differences. Parents of SC patients participated more often in psychoeducational groups (75.5 vs. 49.5%, p < 0.001). SC had shorter time to ADHD diagnosis (8.4 vs. 15.6 weeks, p = 0.01) and to medication (24.6 vs. 32.1 weeks, p = 0.003). SC families were more satisfied with the waiting time (p = 0.01), otherwise there were no differences in satisfaction between the groups. Families of SC patients had fewer visits (4.7 vs. 10.8, p < 0.001) but used the same number of phone calls (6.3 vs. 6.2, p = 0.71). Costs were 55% lower. Conclusions: A SC for ADHD can markedly reduce costs with preserved quality. As resources are limited, child psychiatry would benefit from standardization