Validation of an Arabic multi-informant psychiatric diagnostic interview for children and adolescents: development and Well Being Assessment-Arabic (DAWBA-Arabic).

BACKGROUND: Countries in the Arab region lack a valid Arabic psychiatric diagnostic interview for children and adolescents. We set out to establish the diagnostic validity of the Arabic version of the Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA-Arabic), a multi-informant structured interview for predicting DSM-IV-TR diagnoses. METHODS: The DAWBA was translated, updated, and administered to 45 participants (child and adolescent psychiatric outpatients and their parents) as part of a clinic registry. Two clinicians, blinded to their respective diagnoses, formulated the DAWBA diagnoses. Participants also underwent a clinical evaluation by a child and adolescent psychiatrist who generated clinical diagnoses according to the DSM-IV-TR. RESULTS: Inter-rater reliabilities were .93, .82, and .72 for disruptive disorders, mood disorders and anxiety disorders respectively. Agreement between DAWBA and clinical diagnoses was substantial for disruptive disorders (κ=.0.82) and mood disorders (κ=0.74), and moderate for anxiety disorders (κ=0.46). CONCLUSION: The DAWBA-Arabic could serve as a valid and reliable clinical tool for assessing psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in the Arab region.

Lebanon.

Lebanon is a western Asian country with an area of 10 452 km2 and a population of around 4 million (excluding the 10 million Lebanese immigrants worldwide). It has approximately 60 psychiatrists, mostly concentrated in the capital, Beirut, although a trend for decentralisation is currently observed. The number of psychiatrists is steadily increasing as postgraduate training centres have been established during the past decade. There are, however, few sub-specialists, owing to a lack of adequate training programmes.