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The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

A. Angold*
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
M. Prendergast
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
A. Cox
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
R. Harrington
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
E. Simonoff
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
M. Rutter
Affiliation:
Developmental Epidemiology Program, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Children's Hospital, Birmingham; Bloomfield Clinic, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital and MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Adrian Angold, Developmental Epidemiological Program, Department of Psychiatry, Box 3454, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.

Synopsis

Great advances have been made during the last 20 years in the development of structured and semi-structured interviews for use with psychiatric patients. However, in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry there have been weaknesses in the specification and definition of both symptoms and the psychosocial impairments resulting from psychiatric disorder. Furthermore, most of the available interviews for use with children have been tied to a single diagnostic system (DSM-III, DSM-III-R, or ICD-9). This has meant that symptom coverage has been limited and nosological comparisons have been inhibited. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment (CAPA) represents an attempt to remedy some of these shortcomings. This paper outlines the principles adopted in the CAPA to improve the standardization, reliability and meaningfulness of symptom and diagnostic ratings. The CAPA is an interviewer-based diagnostic interview with versions for use with children and their parents, focused on symptoms occurring during the preceding 3 month period, adapted for assessments in both clinical and epidemiological research.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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