PMID- 25642933
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20161213
LR  - 20220318
IS  - 1939-134X (Electronic)
IS  - 1040-3590 (Linking)
VI  - 27
IP  - 3
DP  - 2015 Sep
TI  - Does a web-based feedback training program result in improved reliability in 
      clinicians' ratings of the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale?
PG  - 865-73
LID - 10.1037/pas0000086 [doi]
AB  - The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale is used in routine clinical 
      practice and research to estimate symptom and functional severity and 
      longitudinal change. Concerns about poor interrater reliability have been raised, 
      and the present study evaluated the effect of a Web-based GAF training program 
      designed to improve interrater reliability in routine clinical practice. 
      Clinicians rated up to 20 vignettes online, and received deviation scores as 
      immediate feedback (i.e., own scores compared with expert raters) after each 
      rating. Growth curves of absolute SD scores across the vignettes were modeled. A 
      linear mixed effects model, using the clinician's deviation scores from expert 
      raters as the dependent variable, indicated an improvement in reliability during 
      training. Moderation by content of scale (symptoms; functioning), scale range 
      (average; extreme), previous experience with GAF rating, profession, and 
      postgraduate training were assessed. Training reduced deviation scores for 
      inexperienced GAF raters, for individuals in clinical professions other than 
      nursing and medicine, and for individuals with no postgraduate specialization. In 
      addition, training was most beneficial for cases with average severity of 
      symptoms compared with cases with extreme severity. The results support the use 
      of Web-based training with feedback routines as a means to improve the 
      reliability of GAF ratings performed by clinicians in mental health practice. 
      These results especially pertain to clinicians in mental health practice who do 
      not have a masters or doctoral degree.
CI  - (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.
FAU - Store-Valen, Jakob
AU  - Store-Valen J
AD  - Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
FAU - Ryum, Truls
AU  - Ryum T
AD  - Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
FAU - Pedersen, Geir A F
AU  - Pedersen GA
AD  - Department of Personality Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, 
      Oslo University Hospital.
FAU - Pripp, Are H
AU  - Pripp AH
AD  - Oslo University Hospital, Biostatistics and Epidemiology Unit.
FAU - Jose, Paul E
AU  - Jose PE
AD  - Victoria University of Wellington, School of Psychology.
FAU - Karterud, Sigmund
AU  - Karterud S
AD  - Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20150202
PL  - United States
TA  - Psychol Assess
JT  - Psychological assessment
JID - 8915253
SB  - IM
MH  - *Clinical Competence
MH  - Education, Nursing
MH  - Female
MH  - *Formative Feedback
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Internet
MH  - Linear Models
MH  - Male
MH  - Observer Variation
MH  - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
MH  - Psychiatry/*education
MH  - Psychology/*education
MH  - Reproducibility of Results
EDAT- 2015/02/03 06:00
MHDA- 2016/12/15 06:00
CRDT- 2015/02/03 06:00
PHST- 2015/02/03 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/02/03 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/12/15 06:00 [medline]
AID - 2015-03431-001 [pii]
AID - 10.1037/pas0000086 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Psychol Assess. 2015 Sep;27(3):865-73. doi: 10.1037/pas0000086. Epub 2015 Feb 2.