Reliability of DSM-III Diagnoses for Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III

Abstract

• This study examined the interrater reliability of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnoses derived from the Structured Clinical interview for DSM-III (SCID). Using videotaped interviews, paired raters made independent diagnoses of 75 psychiatric outpatients. The percent agreement of the raters was 82% for MDD and 86% for GAD; the respective k values were.72 and.79. The results indicated that the SCID can be employed reliably to differentiate MDD from GAD. The SCID is recommended for further research with these disorders.