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.