The Mandarin version of the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Epidemiological version for...

Changes of diagnostic coverage and criteria for psychiatric disorders in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) published in 2013 cause a need for updating the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Epidemiological version (K-SADS-E). This study examined the preliminary psychometric properties, including inter-rater reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the modified K-SADS-E for DSM-5.

A national survey of a school-based sample of 3242 students in grade 3, 5, and 7 from 44 schools was conducted in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan. Psychiatric diagnoses were made by the K-SADS-E interviews. Clinical questionnaires for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and emotional and behavioral problems were examined using the Chinese version of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham IV scale, Social Responsiveness Scale, and Child Behavior Checklist.

The K-SADS-E showed satisfactory inter-rater reliability (prevalence adjusted bias adjusted kappa = 0.80-1.00) among eight interviewers. The diagnoses of K-SADS-E demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity with most corresponding clinical questionnaires.

Our finding suggests that the K-SADS-E is a reliable and valid instrument for diagnosing child and adolescent psychiatric disorders based on DSM-5. Further study will examine the sensitivity, specificity, and test-retest reliability of the K-SADS-E in clinical and community samples.