2nd Edition of Public Health World Conference (PHWC) 2026

Abstract

Objectives Expanding the number of mental health professionals capable of identifying mental illness, especially in primary medical institutions and communities that lack psychiatric services, is a prerequisite to increasing the availability of high-quality mental health services. We aim to train psychologists to administer SCID-5-CV (a structured diagnostic instrument for collecting the relevant information that can be used to determine mental disorder diagnoses) and to compare their diagnoses in both clinical and community settings to that of psychiatrists. The training method for psychologists will be revised based on the findings and subsequently promulgated throughout China.
Methods We will adapt a standardized SCID-5-CV training program developed by the SCID Training Center at the Shanghai Mental Health Center for administration to clinical psychologists. We will then train five psychiatrists and five psychologists and compare their diagnoses in 50 psychiatric outpatients with different mental illnesses. After obtaining consent, SCID-5-CV is administered to participants at enrollment and one month later, alternatively by a psychiatrist or psychologist (who is blind to prior diagnoses). The diagnostic consistency of psychologists with psychiatrists’ diagnoses and gold standard diagnoses will be assessed using Kappa.

Results Based on 49 samples, the diagnostic agreement between psychologists and psychiatrists for primary diagnoses was moderate, with a weighted kappa of 0.480. For secondary diagnoses, the weighted kappa was 0.313, indicating fair agreement.

Conclusions Well-trained psychologists who are qualified to administer the SCID-5-CV should be more actively involved in mental health epidemiological surveys, psychiatric research, and the delivery of mental health services in settings where psychiatrists are scarce.