1. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY
WEEK 4
CLASSIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF MENTAL DISORDER

2. THE CLINICAL INTERVIEW
Definition
- an interaction between at least two or more person
- chief technique for gathering data

3. General characteristics of interviews
- a clinical interview is initiated with a goal or set of goals in mind
- interviews are more purposeful and organized than conversation but sometimes less formalized than psychological test

4. Interview format Unstructured interview
- The interviewer/clinician adopts her own style of questioning rather than following any standard form
Semi structured interview
- the interviewer/clinician follows a general outline of questions designed to gather essential information
Structured Interview
- follow a preset series of questions in a particular order

5. Types of interview questions
Open ended
Facilitative
Clarifying
Confronting
Direct

6. Varieties of interviews
The Intake-admission Interview
The Case History Interview
Mental Status Examination

7. The patient appeared disheveled and exhibited “odd” behavior throughout the interview. Although he appeared alert, some impairment in his attention and concentration was noted. Specifically, he experienced difficulty repeating a series of digits and performing simple calculations without the aid of pencil and paper. No language deficits were noted, although the patient’s speech was at times difficult to understand and did not appear to be goal directed (not a response to the questioned). He was oriented to person and place, but was not oriented to time. Specifically, he was unsure of the month and the day. He reported his mood as “fine”, his affect appeared to be blunted. He demonstrated some signs of formal thought disorder: tangentiality and loose association.

8. He denied suicidal ideation but did report his belief that he was being “framed by the FBI” for a crime he did not commit. When confronted with the fact that he was in psychiatric hospital, not a prison, he stated that this was all part of an FBI “cover-up”, so that he could be made to look “crazy”. Although he denied hallucinations, his behavior suggested that, on occasion, he was responding to auditory hallucinations. For example, he stared off into space and began whispering on several occasions. His ability to abstract appeared to be impaired. For example, when asked how a baseball and orange are alike, he responded, “they both are alive”. The patient’s immediate and recent memories were slightly impaired, although his remote memory was intact. It is estimated that he is of average intelligence. Currently, his insight and judgment appear to be poor.