A Brazilian version of the "Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes" (ChIPS)

OBJETIVE: The advance of research in child and adolescent psychiatry in Brazil heavily depends on the existence of instruments for the investigation of psychiatric syndromes adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. METHODS: This article describes a careful process of translation of the Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes for the purpose of use in research in Brazil. The Children's Interview for Psychiatric Syndromes has a version for parents (P-ChIPs) and a version for children (ChIPS). In this article, the sections of P-ChIPS referring to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional-defiant disorder, conduct disorder, mania/hypomania, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and psychotic disorders were translated to Brazilian Portuguese. The sections of the ChIPS referring to substance use disorders, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disoder, separation anxiety disorder, post-traumatic disorders and depression/dysthimia were also adapted. Each section was translated by two independent translators and later discussed in a committee composed of experts in the field of Psychiatry and a professional of the field of linguistics. RESULT: A final version containing an interview for the main psychiatric syndromes was defined. CONCLUSION: The translated P-ChIPS is a helpful instrument in children and adolescent clinical evaluation.