Reliability ofTrainees ' Endorsements on Standardized Psychiatric Interviews

T his study invest igated th e u tili zation of sta ndardized psychia tr ic interviews (SPI's) in psychiatric training programs. As th e field of psychiatry, and the training of its ' new members moves to co nfo r m its ' princip les to scient ific models, th e reli abl e use of SPI's is useful in reach ing that goal, in both research and diagnostic applications. T h is investigatio n contai ns two studies. In Study I, a random survey of 20 per cent of all psychiatric residency train ing programs was co nd uc ted to determine th e prevailing level of training devoted to SPI 's. T he resulting find ings a re referred to as " training as usual " (TAU). Study I shows that resid ents are not sufficiently tra ine d in the use of SPI's insomuch as more than 85 per cent of training programs offered no training in th ei r administra-t ion. Study 2 tested residents ' inter-judge reliabi ty upon administration of th e Psychiatric Status Schedule (PSS) both before and after they received an inten-sive train ing intervention. T he purpose of th e train ing intervention was to increase th e skills necessary for residents to improve th e ir in ter-j ud ge reliability in ad ministe r ing the PSS. Results of Study 2 show a highly significant increa se i