A self-report comparison of five semistructured interviews

There are currently five alternative semi-structured interviews for the assessment of the DSM-IV personality disorders. However, as yet, there have been only three published studies that have compared them empirically. The authors of the current study systematically coded each interview question contained in each of the five semistructured interviews, indicating that the vast majority could be administered in a selfreport format, thereby allowing for an empirical study of convergent validity via selfreport inventories. Fifty-two psychiatric outpatients were given self-report questionnaires containing the respective questions from the five semi-structured interviews for the antisocial and borderline personality disorders, along with two additional self-report inventories. The results indicated substantial convergence among the five semi-structured interviews. However, some divergence was obtained for the assessment of individual diagnostic criteria, attributable to the relatively unique approach taken by a respective interview schedule for its assessment.