Background.- Countries in the Arab region lack a valid Arabic diagnostic interview for children and adolescents. We set out to establish the diagnostic validity of the DAWBA Arabic Version - a multi-informant structured interview for predicting DSM-IV-TR diagnoses. Method.- The DAWBA [ii] was translated, updated, and administered to forty psychiatric Lebanese outpatients at the AUBMC. Two clinicians (first and last author), blinded to their respective clinical diagnoses and of each others' assessments, formulated the DAWBA diagnoses. Results.- Agreement between DAWBA and clinical diagnoses was substantial for disruptive/externalizing disorders (κ = 0.94), and good for emotional/ internalizing disorders (κ = 0.61). Respectively, inter-rater reliabilities were 0.89 and 0.79. Discussion.- The DAWBA-Arabic Version could serve as a valid tool for assessing prevalence data of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in the region. It could also aid clinicians refine their working diagnoses which in turn could improve outcomes.

Zeinoun P, Bawab S, Atwi M, Hariz N, Khani M, Tavitian L, et al. An initial validation of a multi-informant diagnostic interview for Lebanese children and adolescents: The development and well being assessment (DAWBA)-Arabic version. Neuropsychiatrie de l

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273534832