Gorgens, K.A. (2011). Structured Clinical Interview For DSM-IV (SCID-I/SCID-II). In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3_2011

Summary

“The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I/SCID-II; First, Gibbon, Spitzer, Williams, & Benjamin, 1997) is a semi-structured clinical interview administered by trained clinicians and designed to yield psychiatric diagnoses consistent with DSM-IV/DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) diagnostic criteria. The duration of administration ranges between 15 min and 2 h. The SCID is designed to begin with open-ended questions that introduce each content area (e.g., “Have you ever had…?”), followed by a series of scripted questions to be asked verbatim. At the close of each module, the SCID directs interviewers to append as many additional questions as needed in order to be confident about the validity of their ratings. Interviewers are also encouraged to corroborate their assumptions with collateral data whenever possible. The score summary sheets document any SCID Axis I and/or Axis II diagnoses; additional interviewer diagnoses; an indication of psychosocial and environmental problems (Axis IV); and a rating for the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale, Axis V.

Though originally intended to be delivered face to face, research has suggested that computer-assisted and telephone administration of the SCID generate comparable diagnoses (Cacciola, Alterman, Rutherford, McKay, & May, 1999). Contrary to its name, the format is considered “semi-structured” in that collateral data review and clinical judgment, in addition to the answers to the scripted questions, are required to determine whether diagnostic criteria have been met. The structure of the interview itself ensures full coverage of the diagnostic possibilities and reduces the opportunity for error in clinical judgment or the introduction of social/cultural biases (Torres, Zayas, Cabassa, & Pérez, 2007). Table 1 indicates the symptoms, episodes, and disorders that are assessed by the SCID modules.”