Reliability of the KIDIES for diagnosing pervasive developmental disorder in children.

The Kiddie-Infant Descriptive Instrument for Emotional States (KIDIES), a new instrument that uses affective and behavioral dimensions for categorization, was compared with DSM-III-R criteria to assess diagnostic reliability in childhood pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). Forty-two children with PDD and other developmental disorders were evaluated. Their diagnoses were based on DSM-III-R criteria. Subjects were videotaped during interviews with three different partners and rated using the KIDIES. Cluster analysis of KIDIES ratings revealed a significant correlation with DSM-III-R diagnostic categories, demonstrating the potential reliability of the KIDIES dimensional approach for diagnosing PDD in preschoolers.