Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

The children's services interview: validity and reliability

  • Tamsin Ford
  • , Helena Hamilton
  • , Sabina Dosani
  • , Lisa Burke
  • , Robert Goodman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Children Service Interview was designed as a brief measure of service use related to mental health problems in Great Britain.

METHOD: We validated the Children's Services Interview against medical records from a sample of 87 children, and assessed test-retest reliability from 25 parents completing two interviews. We examined criterion validity by looking at the service use patterns of children attending clinics for different types of disorders.

RESULTS: The Children's Services Interview showed high levels of face validity and moderate or better concordance with medical records as far as contacts were recorded in the case notes. Test-retest reliability was moderate or better apart from contacts with the voluntary sector, teachers, and the number and duration of appointments with some professionals.

CONCLUSION: The study suggests the Children's Services Interview can extract moderately valid and reliable data on service use.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST: Tamsin Ford was supported by a Wellcome Clinical Training Fellowship in Health Services Research while completing this work.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)36-49
Number of pages14
JournalSocial Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Volume42
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2007

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological/methods
  • Male
  • Mental Health Services/standards
  • Psychology, Child/methods
  • Psychometrics/methods
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • United Kingdom

Cite this