Reliability of the alcohol and drug modules of the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule--Alcohol/Drug-Revised (AUDADIS-ADR): an international comparison.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the test-retest reliability of the alcohol and drug modules of the AUDADIS-ADR in three sites: Bangalore, India, Jebel, Romania and Sydney, Australia. The overall reliability of ICD-10, DSM-IV and DSM-III-R dependence diagnoses was found to be good to excellent for each substance, including alcohol, for each time frame, regardless of whether the total sample or user subsample figured into the calculations. Reliability associated with corresponding harmful use and abuse diagnoses were mixed, but generally lower. Reliability statistics for Bangalore were generally lower than those of the Jebel and Sydney sites, particularly for alcohol diagnostic criteria. Implications of these results are discussed, in conjunction with results from the discrepancy interview protocol analyses within sites, in terms of future revisions to the AUDADIS-ADR and its training procedures tailored to developing countries.

WHO Study on the reliability and validity of the alcohol and drug use disorder instruments: overview of methods and results.

The WHO Study on the reliability and validity of the alcohol and drug use disorder instruments in an international study which has taken place in centres in ten countries, aiming to test the reliability and validity of three diagnostic instruments for alcohol and drug use disorders: the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) and a special version of the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview schedule-alcohol/drug-revised (AUDADIS-ADR). The purpose of the reliability and validity (R&V) study is to further develop the alcohol and drug sections of these instruments so that a range of substance-related diagnoses can be made in a systematic, consistent, and reliable way. The study focuses on new criteria proposed in the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and the fourth revision of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-IV) for dependence, harmful use and abuse categories for alcohol and psychoactive substance use disorders. A systematic study including a scientifically rigorous measure of reliability (i.e. 1 week test-retest reliability) and validity (i.e. comparison between clinical and non-clinical measures) has been undertaken. Results have yielded useful information on reliability and validity of these instruments at diagnosis, criteria and question level. Overall the diagnostic concordance coefficients (kappa, kappa) were very good for dependence disorders (0.7-0.9), but were somewhat lower for the abuse and harmful use categories. The comparisons among instruments and independent clinical evaluations and debriefing interviews gave important information about possible sources of unreliability, and provided useful clues on the applicability and consistency of nosological concepts across cultures.

Discriminative features of alcoholics classified according to family history.

By means of discriminant analysis, the frequently proposed distinction of alcoholics according to family history of alcoholism was tested. The most powerful discriminative factors were dysfunctional attitudes, some particular personality characteristics, and perceived parental rearing patterns. The results lend support to the assumption to regard alcoholics with a positive family history of alcoholism as a homogenous subgroup characterized by a specific etiopathogenesis.

Interpersonal dependency, self-esteem and depression in primary alcoholism.

This study was undertaken to clarify the relationship between alcoholism and depression by means of the personality traits interpersonal dependency and self-esteem. In a sample of 52 alcoholics that met Feighner's criteria for primary alcoholism, the subjects were assessed by means of the Zung Depression Self-rating Scale, the Hirschfeld Interpersonal Dependency Scale and the 23-item version of the Janis & Field Self-esteem Scale by Rimée & Leyens. By means of the score on the Zung scale the subjects were divided into depressive vs. non-depressive alcoholics. There were no intergroup differences in interpersonal dependency. However, the depressive alcoholics scored significantly lower on the self-esteem scale. The authors suggest that the level of self-esteem in alcoholics is a function of secondary depression, whereas the interpersonal dependency might be influenced by the pathological drinking pattern.

Reliability of the Romanian version of the alcohol module of the WHO Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities: Interview Schedule --Alcohol/Drug-Revised.

Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule - Alcohol/Drug-Revised (AUDADIS-A/D-R) is a fully structured, standardized and precoded instrument designed to evaluate alcohol and drug use disorders according to DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and ICD-10 criteria. The AUDADIS-A/D-R has shown good to excellent reliability in both large clinical and general population samples, but prior to the conduct of the present study no data on the reliability of the Romanian version of the AUDADIS-A/D-R existed. The purpose of the present study was to examine the test-retest reliability of the alcohol module of the AUDADIS-A/D-R in a general population and clinical sample in Romania. The overall reliability of ICD-10 and DSM-IV abuse, harmful and dependence diagnoses, was found to be good to excellent, but was somewhat lower for abuse and harmful use diagnoses. The results are discussed in terms of the cultural applicability of the symptom items and within the context of the analysis of discrepant responses between the test and retest interviews.