Abstract
A behavioral test was developed to assess the quality of diagnostic interviewing skills of (future) mental health professionals. Two aspects of diagnostic interviewing ability are distinguished: process skills, reflecting the interpersonal and communication skills; and content skills, referring to the information-gathering ability of the interviewer. It was found that diagnostic interviewing can be reliably measured with respect to interrater reliability. However, interviewer performance on one case proved to be a poor predictor of performance on other cases. It was concluded that a large number of cases is required to obtain reliable scores of general diagnostic interviewing ability. Validity was supported by the correlational analyses. Process skills were strongly related to patient satisfaction, whereas content skills were related to the amount of relevant information given by the patient and the accuracy of the diagnostic formulation and treatment plan.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barrows, H. S. (1980).Problem-based learning: An approach to medical education. New York: Springer.
Bögels, S. M. (1994). A structured training approach to teaching diagnostic interviewing.Teaching of Psychology, 21, 144–150.
Bögels, S. M., Van Mourik, T. G. C., & Van der Vleuten, C. P. M. (1995). Authentic assessment of interviewing and counselling skills: Effect of testing time per station on reproducibility and validity.Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 7, 155–162.
Borus, J. F., & Yager, J. (1986). Ongoing evaluation in psychiatry: The first step toward quality.American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 1415–1419.
Brennan, R. L. (1983).Elements of generalizability theory. Iowa City, IA: The American College Testing Program.
Crijnen, A. A. M., & Kraan, H. F. (1987). Measuring patient satisfaction with the communication. In H. F. Kraan & A. A. M. Crijnen (Eds.),The Maastricht History-taking and Advice Checklist: Studies of instrumental utility, Thesis, pp. 145–171. Amsterdam: Velden van den Hazelaar.
Cronbach, L. J., Gleser, C. G., Nanda, H., & Rajaratnam, N. (1972).The dependability of behavioral measurements: Theory of generalizability for scores and profiles. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Elstein, A., Shulman, L., & Sprafka, S. (1978).Medical problem solving. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gask, L., Goldberg, D., Lesser, A. L., & Millar, T. (1988). Improving the psychiatric skills of the general practice trainee: An evaluation of a group training course.Medical Education, 22, 132–138.
Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking: The role of knowledge.American Psychology, 39, 93–104.
Goldberg, D. P., Steele, J. J., Smith, C., & Spivey, L. (1980). Training family doctors to recognize psychiatric illness with increased accuracy.Lancet, 2, 521–523.
Hersen, M., & Turner, S. M. (1985).Diagnostic interviewing. New York, Plenum Press.
Kraan, H. F., & Crijnen, A. A. M. (1987).The Maastricht History-taking and Advice Checklist: Studies of instrumental utility, Thesis. Amsterdam: Velden van den Hazelaar.
Maguire, P., Fairbairn, S., & Fletcher, C. (1986). Consultation skills of young doctors: I. Benefits of feedback training in interviewing as students persists.Medical Education, 292, 1573–1576.
Maguire, P. (1982). Psychiatrists also need interview training (Comments).British Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 423–424.
McCready, J. R., & Waring, E. M. (1986). Interviewing skills in relation to psychiatric residency.Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 317–322.
Mumford, E., Schlesinger, H., Cuerdon, T., & Scully, J. (1987). Ratings of videotaped simulated patients and four other methods of evaluating psychiatric clerkship.American Journal of Psychiatry, 3, 316–322.
Norman, G. R., Tugwell, P., & Feightner, J. W. (1982). A comparison of resident performance on real and simulated patients.Journal of Medical Education, 57, 708–715.
Pollock, D. C., Shanley, D. F., & Byrne, P. N. (1985). Psychiatric interviewing and clinical skills.Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 30, 64–68.
Pritchard, M. J. (1981). Temporal reliability of a questionnaire measuring psychological responses to illness.Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 25, 63–66.
Reiser, D. E. (1984). The psychiatric interview. In H. G. Goldman (Ed.),Review of general psychiatry, pp. 197–205. Los Altos, CA: Lange.
Rutter, M., & Cox, A. (1981). Psychiatric interviewing techniques: I. Methods and measures.British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 273–282.
Sanson-Fisher, R. W., & Poole, A. D. (1980). Simulated patient and the assessment of medical students' interpersonal skills.Medical Education 14, 249–253.
Shavelson, R. J., Webb, N. M., & Rowley, G. L. (1989). Generalizability theory.American Psychologist, 6, 922–932.
Shea, S. C. (1988).Psychiatric interviewing: The art of understanding. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Shea, S. C., & Mezzich, J. E. (1988). Contemporary psychiatric interviewing: New directions for training.Psychiatry, 15, 385–397.
Van der Vleuten, C. P. M., & Swanson D. B. (1990). Assessment of clinical skills with standardized patients: State of the art.Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 2, 58–76.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bögels, S.M., van der Vleuten, C.P.M., Blok, G. et al. Assessment and validation of diagnostic interviewing skills for the mental health professions. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 17, 217–230 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229299
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229299