Kathryn S. Ratcliff

Bio: Kathryn S. Ratcliff is an academic researcher from Washington University in St. Louis. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Feighner Criteria. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 5 publications receiving 5646 citations.

National Institute of Mental Health diagnostic interview schedule: Its history, characteristics, and validity.

Abstract: • A new interview schedule allows lay interviewers or clinicians to make psychiatric diagnoses according to DSM-III criteria, Feighner criteria, and Research Diagnostic Criteria. It is being used in a set of epidemiological studies sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Epidemiological Studies. Its accuracy has been evaluated in a test-retest design comparing independent administrations by psychiatrists and lay interviewers to 216 subjects (inpatients, outpatients, ex-patients, and nonpatients).

Validity of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version II: DSM-III diagnoses

Abstract: A new diagnostic instrument, The Diagnostic Interview Schedule, was evaluated for use by lay interviewers by comparing its DSM-III diagnoses when given by lay interviewers with results obtained through an independent interview by a psychiatrist using the same schedule, his clinical judgement after the interview, his clinical judgement after both the interview and a free question period, and with diagnoses on the medical chart.

Risk Factors in the Continuation of Childhood Antisocial Behavior into Adulthood

Abstract: (1978). Risk Factors in the Continuation of Childhood Antisocial Behavior into Adulthood. International Journal of Mental Health: Vol. 7, The Epidemiology of Children’s Behavior Disorders: Implications for Planning, pp. 96-116.

Early home environment and retrospective recall: a test for concordance between siblings with and without psychiatric disorders

Abstract: Case control studies are a reasonably rapid and inexpensive method of developing causal hypotheses concerning the role of early environment on the development of psychiatric pathology. The current study tested an interview designed to assess early home environment on a group of patients with alcoholism or depression, on a control group free of psychiatric disorder, and on close-in-age siblings in each group. Findings demonstrated substantial agreement, suggesting that interviews requiring recall of childhood environment may be reasonably valid; patient status did not appear to influence agreement or, presumably, validity.

The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) : The development and validation of a Structured Diagnostic Psychiatric Interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10

Abstract: The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) is a short structured diagnostic interview, developed jointly by psychiatrists and clinicians in the United States and Europe, for DSM-IV and ICD-10 psychiatric disorders. With an administration time of approximately 15 minutes, it was designed to meet the need for a short but accurate structured psychiatric interview for multicenter clinical trials and epidemiology studies and to be used as a first step in outcome tracking in nonresearch clinical settings. The authors describe the development of the M.I.N.I. and its family of interviews: the M.I.N.I.-Screen, the M.I.N.I.-Plus, and the M.I.N.I.-Kid. They report on validation of the M.I.N.I. in relation to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, Patient Version, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, and expert professional opinion, and they comment on potential applications for this interview.

Lifetime and 12-Month Prevalence of DSM-III-R Psychiatric Disorders in the United States: Results From the National Comorbidity Survey

Abstract: Background: This study presents estimates of lifetime and 12-month prevalence of 14 DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders from the National Comorbidity Survey, the first survey to administer a structured psychiatric interview to a national probability sample in the United States. Methods: The DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders among persons aged 15 to 54 years in the noninstitutionalized civilian population of the United States were assessed with data collected by lay interviewers using a revised version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: Nearly 50% of respondents reported at least one lifetime disorder, and close to 30% reported at least one 12-month disorder. The most common disorders were major depressive episode, alcohol dependence, social phobia, and simple phobia. More than half of all lifetime disorders occurred in the 14% of the population who had a history of three or more comorbid disorders. These highly comorbid people also included the vast majority of people with severe disorders. Less than 40% of those with a lifetime disorder had ever received professional treatment, and less than 20% of those with a recent disorder had been in treatment during the past 12 months. Consistent with previous risk factor research, it was found that women had elevated rates of affective disorders and anxiety disorders, that men had elevated rates of substance use disorders and antisocial personality disorder, and that most disorders declined with age and with higher socioeconomic status. Conclusions: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders is greater than previously thought to be the case. Furthermore, this morbidity is more highly concentrated than previously recognized in roughly one sixth of the population who have a history of three or more comorbid disorders. This suggests that the causes and consequences of high comorbidity should be the focus of research attention. The majority of people with psychiatric disorders fail to obtain professional treatment. Even among people with a lifetime history of three or more comorbid disorders, the proportion who ever obtain specialty sector mental health treatment is less than 50%. These results argue for the importance of more outreach and more research on barriers to professional help-seeking.

Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress.

Abstract: Background. A 10-question screening scale of psychological distress and a six-question short-form scale embedded within the 10-question scale were developed for the redesigned US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Methods. Initial pilot questions were administered in a US national mail survey (N fl 1401). A reduced set of questions was subsequently administered in a US national telephone survey (N fl 1574). The 10-question and six-question scales, which we refer to as the K10 and K6, were constructed from the reduced set of questions based on Item Response Theory models. The scales were subsequently validated in a two-stage clinical reappraisal survey (N fl 1000 telephone screening interviews in the first stage followed by N fl 153 face-to-face clinical interviews in the second stage that oversampled first-stage respondents who screened positive for emotional problems) in a local convenience sample. The second-stage sample was administered the screening scales along with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). The K6 was subsequently included in the 1997 (N fl 36116) and 1998 (N fl 32440) US National Health Interview Survey, while the K10 was included in the 1997 (N fl 10641) Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Results. Both the K10 and K6 have good precision in the 90th‐99th percentile range of the population distribution (standard errors of standardized scores in the range 0‐20‐0‐25) as well as consistent psychometric properties across major sociodemographic subsamples. The scales strongly discriminate between community cases and non-cases of DSM-IV}SCID disorders, with areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve of 0‐87‐0‐88 for disorders having Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores of 0‐70 and 0‐95‐0‐96 for disorders having GAF scores of 0‐50. Conclusions. The brevity, strong psychometric properties, and ability to discriminate DSM-IV cases from non-cases make the K10 and K6 attractive for use in general-purpose health surveys. The scales are already being used in annual government health surveys in the US and Canada as well as in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Routine inclusion of either the K10 or K6 in clinical studies would create an important, and heretofore missing, crosswalk between community and clinical epidemiology.

Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention.

Abstract: The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.