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Home About KSADS-COMP
About KSADS-COMP

The K-SADS is the most widely used and well validated diagnostic interview for children and adolescents. The web-based KSADS-COMP instruments were developed with funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and are currently being used in many large-scale research projects in the US and abroad.

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What is KSADS-COMP?

The KSADS-COMP (Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia – Computerized Version) is an advanced, digital adaptation of the traditional KSADS diagnostic tool used to assess psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.

Main Features:

  • Purpose: It diagnoses and evaluates a broad range of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder in children and teens.
  • Computerized Interface: Incorporates computer-assisted technology to streamline the administration process, ensuring consistency and reducing interviewer bias.
  • Modular and Adaptive: Uses an adaptive format, tailoring subsequent questions based on initial responses for efficiency and reduced burden.
  • Multiple Informants: Can integrate responses from parents, guardians, and the child for a comprehensive diagnostic picture.
  • Self-Report and Clinician-Guided: Includes self-report options for the child or adolescent, in addition to clinician-guided interviews.
  • Clinical and Research Use: Widely used in clinical settings for diagnosis and in research studies exploring child and adolescent psychopathology.
  • Efficiency and Data Management: Features automated scoring and data storage for enhanced reliability over paper-based versions.

KSADS-COMP Perspectives on diagnoses and treatment planning

KSADS-COMP takes the perspective that mental health diagnoses and treatment planning cannot be initiated with a survey of symptoms alone—let alone current symptoms over the past few weeks.

  • For example, if a child screened positive for depression on a survey of current symptoms, a seasoned mental health clinician would know to assess for past episodes of mania and family loading for bipolar disorder before initiating antidepressant treatment; a non–mental health professional may not do this. The assessment of current and lifetime symptoms helps to optimize treatment.
  • The KSADS-COMP also includes an introductory interview that obtains information about life circumstances, adaptive functioning, treatment history, and family history of psychiatric illness which are essential for treatment planning.
  • In addition, the KSADS-COMP assesses a variety of key contextual factors that modify risk for suicide and other adverse outcomes, such as the presence of firearms in the home, identification as a sexual minority, bullying experiences, and a history of a range of traumatic life events – including exposure to community violence, the unexpected death of a loved one, immigration-related trauma, discrimination, and more.

Three Versions of the Web-Based KSADS-COMP tools

Clinician

Clinician-administered KSADS-COMP

  • The clinician-administered KSADS-COMP, like the paper-and-pencil KSADS interview, is designed to be an integrated caregiver and youth assessment, providing an optimal psychiatric evaluation.
  • Clinicians read the probes off a tablet, laptop or desktop computer and enter their scores and notes directly onto the computer instead of paper forms.
  • The computer automatically scores and branches the interview to the next question, based on the patient’s response. Notes can be taken via keyboard or stylus.
Clinician

Youth Self-administered KSADS‑COMP

  • In the self-administered version, a video of a clinician asks the questions, and the youth chooses the appropriate response option.
  • Text of the questions also appear on the screen, and the user can turn the video off if just text is preferred. The user can choose either a male or female video-clinician.
  • The computer automatically scores and branches the interview to the next question, based on the youth’s response. Youths can type or write in comments at any time. 
Clinician

Parent Self-administered KSADS‑COMP

  • The parent self-administered version is comparable to the youth self-administered version except it does not include video-clips.
  • The parent-version collects the following extra data not surveyed from the youth:
    • child’s history of mental health treatment
    • current and past psychotropic medications
    • birth and developmental history
    • health problems
    • family history of psychiatric illness
    • presence of firearms in the home

Why are there three different versions of the KSADS-COMP:

  • The clinician-administered KSADS-COMP is the gold standard, as it is completed by interviewing both the parent and youth and integrating the data from both to derive diagnoses.
  • We created both the youth and the parent self-administered versions of the instrument as it is well-documented that parents and youth don’t always report the same information, and input from both informants is imperative for optimal diagnoses.
  • The youth and parent self-administered versions of the KSADS-COMP are ideal for large-scale epidemiological studies where costs for conducting clinician-administered interviews would be prohibitive.

The web-based KSADS-COMPs are available in English, Spanish, Korean, Dutch, and Danish, and can be completed using a SmartPhone, iPad, or computer.

KSADS-COMP Assessment Tool Features

The KSADS-COMPs provide a cost- and time-effective way to obtain state-of-the-art child and adolescent diagnostic assessments.

All diagnostic criteria have been updated for DSM-5, and include several new disorders introduced in DSM5.The DSM5 KSADS-COMP covers over 50 of the most common diagnoses in children and adolescent and provides ICD-10 codes.

The introductory interview includes probes about family context, health, current and prior mental health treatment, family psychiatric history, gender identity/sexual orientation, school functioning, hobbies, and family and peer relations, including bullying. The presence of firearms in the home is also surveyed. The discussion of these latter topics is extremely important, as it provides a context for eliciting mood symptoms (depression and irritability)and obtaining information to evaluate functional impairment and psychiatric risk.

The symptom assessment portion of the KSADS-COMP is divided into a screen interview that surveys 2 to 4 symptoms for each of the diagnosis assessed in the KSADS-COMP, and separate diagnostic supplements that are administered as indicated based on responses to items in the screen interview. The screen items of the KSADS-COMP provide a diagnostic overview to facilitate differential diagnoses and help rule out, for example, if mood-like symptoms are secondary to substance use, with specific probes automatically generated when both potential diagnoses are present.

Clinicians have the option of selecting which modules to administer. For research initiatives, the modules can be preselected studywide. This saves time at the beginning of each interview, as you don’t have to spend time choosing the modules for each patient. It also helps guard against clinician error, in choosing (or forgetting to choose) the required modules for your study. For clinical use, providers can choose as they go and select to complete a subset of the most likely relevant modules.

Stand-alone modules provide a comprehensive evaluation of suicidal and homicidal ideation and behavior, and provide a score on the Columbia Classification Algorithm for Suicidal Assessment (C-CASA), which has been endorsed by the FDA for use in clinical trials and is very useful in determining risk and triage planning.

Embedded symptom rating scales provide valid measures of symptom severity in addition to diagnoses. Although further research on these scales is warranted, they can be used to monitor treatment progress and document treatment outcomes. (See KSADS-COMP development manuscript for further discussion about these scales .)

Clinicians have the option of having patients complete a brief self-report “pre-interview’ on the computer before being seen by the clinician. Clinicians can review the responses before meeting with the patient and the information is also shown on the computer screen during the clinician KSADS-COMP interview with the patient (refer to Preview pane section). Having this information helps save clinician time, in that it can be used to streamline the assessment.

Note: Screenshot of clinician-administered KSADS-COMP interview being conducted with parent after teen interview completed. Pre-interview parent responses and teen interview responses appear on screen, along with scoring criteria for clinical significance. Comments can be added on each screen and reviewed in symptom/comments report.
To obtain an accurate diagnosis in children, it is important to interview both the parent and the child independently. When the clinician KSADS-COMP is conducted, a preview pane appears, showing the answers from the other informant (child or parent, whoever was first) on the screen. This allows clinicians to compare answers in real time, and develop further probes and more focused follow-up questions. (See screenshot of computer screen)

To facilitate administration, the youth self-administered version has videoclips in which the questions are asked to the youth by a “clinician.” Youth can turn off the videos if they prefer to just read the questions.

Click on the video to see a demo

The self-administered KSADS-COMP can readily be completed on a smartphone.

Interview Panel mobile

As a safety measure, the KSADS-COMP generates an alert that is sent to the clinician via email or text (or both) when suicidal or homicidal ideation is reported on the self-administered computer KSADS.

We are working on the development of electronic record compatible reports that meet standard charting requirements from the data generated with the self-administered or clinician administered KSADS-COMP. Pronouns for the reports can be selected by the clinician before generating the report.

The KSADS-COMP is similar in format to the 1997, 2009, and 2013 KSADS-PL interviews, in that it includes a screen interview and separate diagnostic supplements. However, the probes and scoring criteria for assessing individual symptoms have been modified significantly.
The changes noted below have resulted in notably less time required for training and significantly greater inter-rater reliability.

  • Probe Questions: All the various paper and pencil versions of the KSADS included numerous sample probes for eliciting information about individual symptoms, and unique scoring criteria for each item. The KSADS-COMP has simplified the probes for inquiring about symptoms to a single item (clinicians can generate their own follow-up probes as necessary, and as with the paper-and-pencil interview, clinicians do not need to recite the probes verbatim).
  • Response Options: A uniform rating scale was developed for assessing the frequency of each symptom, with different cut-off points for determining which symptoms are clinically significant.
The KSADS-COMPs provide a cost- and time-effective way to obtain state-of-the-art child and adolescent diagnostic assessments.

  • No need to xerox and store paper records.
  • The pre-programmed branching logic guides the clinician (or patient) appropriately through the interview.
  • Streamlined administration time.
  • Assures that all required probes and supplements are administered.
  • Data automatically stored in an electronic database, eliminating the need for data entry and possibility of data entry errors.
  • Scoring is done by pre-programmed diagnostic algorithms based on DSM-5 criteria, saving clinician time and eliminating diagnostic errors.
  • Individual and study-wide data are available for download at any time, enabling study enrollment and patient data monitoring in real time.

Diagnoses Covered

Depressive Disorders:  Major Depressive Disorder, Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia), Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), Other Specified Depressive Disorder

Bipolar and Related Disorders: Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, Other Specified Bipolar and Related Disorder, Substance/Medication-Inducted Bipolar and Related Disorder

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders: Schizophrenia, Other Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder, Hallucinations, Delusions 

Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: Alcohol Use Disorder, Other Specified Alcohol-Related Disorder, Substance Use Disorders: Cannabis Use Disorder, Stimulant Use Disorder:  Amphetamine-type substance, Stimulant Use Disorder: Cocaine, Sedative, Hypnotic or Anxiolytic Use Disorder, Opioid Use Disorder, Phencyclidine (PCP) Use Disorder, Other Hallucinogen Use Disorder, Inhalant Use Disorder, Tobacco Use Disorder, Other Substance Use Disorder 

Anxiety Disorders: Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Specific Phobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Other Specified Anxiety Disorder

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Other Specified Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorder 

Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Other Specified Trauma-and Stressor-Related Disorder, the various Adjustment Disorders

Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Other Specified Unspecified Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Other Specified Neurodevelopmental Disorder, Other Specified Tic Disorder, 

Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders: Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, 

Elimination Disorders: Enuresis, Encopresis

Feeding and Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder

Reports and Data Capture Features

Diagnostic Report
Pre-Interview Report
Symptom/Response Report

Automated Data Capture

The KSADS is equipped with an API to transfer the data to your site electronically. Sites can have their system programmed to call KSADS at a scheduled time with a requesting JSON (input JSON). This requires the sites to program their in-house software to request and import the data from KSADS. KSADS uses REST protocol.
The data is exported in a JSON format, which can be exported to any program or databases. We export 2 different data sets: raw data; and diagnostic data. If you are interested in this option, let us know and we will have our IT Department work with your IT Department to arrange for this.

Electronic Record Compatible Reports

We are working on the development of electronic record compatible reports that meet standard charting requirements that can be generated automatically from the self-administered or clinician administered KSADS-COMP data. Pronouns (e.g., he, she, they) for the reports can be selected by the clinician before generating the record. Click here to view Sample Report.

Validation and Research Uses of the KSADS-COMP

The KSADS-COMP is currently being used in many large-scale research projects, including the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) and Healthy Brain Network (HBN) studies in the US, the Generation R study in the Netherlands, and more.

Download the full manuscript

Under Review

Click here for sample of published studies that used the KSADS-COMP

Clinical Uses

Do you often feel like you don’t have enough time when you meet with patients to do a comprehensive diagnostic assessment?

  • The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS) interview has long been considered the gold standard in child psychiatric diagnosis.
  • The KSADS is now available in three online web-based versions: a youth self-administered version with video-clips to facilitate completion, a parent self-administered version, and a clinician-administered version with pre-interview questions that can be completed before you meet with the parent and child to streamline your assessment.
  • Links for the pre-interview questions or the self-administered versions of the KSADS can be sent via email or text, and the interviews can be completed remotely on a smart phone, tablet, or computer at the parent’s and child’s convenience.
  • Individual item responses and diagnostic reports are then available to you in real time to help with your treatment planning.
  • Modifiable clinical reports designed to meet standard mental health charting requirements that can be uploaded directly into an electronic medical health record are currently under development. Save time and leverages your expertise with these invaluable tools.
  • Standard billing codes for diagnostic assessments can be applied when using the KSADS-COMP tools.

In recent years, the pandemic, social unrest, and economic hardship has exacerbated mental health problems among youth.

  • The KSADS-COMPs evaluate all the major DSM psychiatric disorders for this age group, including anxiety, depression, ADHD, substance use, and more; assesses suicidality and homicidality; and collects information about relevant factors that put youth at risk (e.g., experiences of bullying, gender non-conformity, presence of guns in the home, and trauma history, including loss of a loved one due to COVID-19).
  • Computer generated item response and diagnostic reports are then available immediately for review by school social workers or other appropriate personnel.

Qualifications for Use

Reports generated with the KSADS-COMP tools should be reviewed by a licensed mental health or other health care provider. The tools are designed to support the collection of comprehensive data and assist with diagnosis, triage, treatment planning, and clinical documentation. The tools are not designed to replace clinicians.

KSADS History

The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (KSADS) interview is considered the gold standard in child and adolescent psychiatric diagnostic assessment.

  • The paper-and-pencil version of the KSADS has been translated into over 30 different languages, and it has been the diagnostic instrument utilized in multiple National Institute of Health (NIH) and pharmaceutical industry-sponsored studies, with many of the clinical trials that employed the KSADS resulting in changes in pediatric drug labeling by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  • With over 9,600 citations in peer-reviewed publications, the paper-and-pencil KSADS interview has been used as a validation instrument in large-scale epidemiological studies of youth (e.g., National Comorbidity Study: Adolescents), and in numerous studies examining the longitudinal course, and clinical, neurobiological, and genetic correlates of a wide-range of different child psychiatric disorders.
  • The web-based KSADS-COMP instruments were developed with funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Security

KSADS-COMP web applications were developed using Microsoft’s ASP.NET 4.0 framework and a Microsoft SQL Server 2016 database. These technologies have proven to be extremely stable, reliable, and secure. Several aspects of the ASP.NET framework promote reliability and security of the application.

Key security features of the KSADS-COMP website include:

  • Secure Socket Layer
  • Firewall
  • Input validation
  • Authentication and Authorization
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • AWS Infrastructure Security
  • Configuration and session management
  • Cryptography and data encryption
  • HIPAA Compliant
  • GDPR Compliant
  • Penetration testing
  • Click here to download white paper on security

Pricing

Clinician and Self-Administered Versions:

Treatment Setting

$1500
per administration fee
$2500
annual site fee

Research Studies

$200
per administration fee
$55000
annual site fee

The self-administered versions of the KSADS-COMP is currently only available for research.

Per administration price includes both parent and youth assessment.

Prices are subject to change.

 Purchase Today  Request for Demo

For industry-sponsored and multi-site research studies, school district contracts, and large-scale clinical uses, contact Ken.kobak@ksads-comp.com for pricing information.

About our Team

Joan Kaufman, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder
Joan Kaufman


Dr. Kaufman received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University where she served on faculty in the Department of Psychiatry from 1998-2015. In 2015 she was recruited to Baltimore to serve as Director of Research at the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI). She also held an appointment as a Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Kaufman left KKI and academic medicine in August of 2022.

Dr. Kaufman’s research was predominantly in the area of child abuse and neglect, spanned from neurobiology to social policy, and used tools from psychology, genetics, and neuroscience to understand resilience and mechanisms of disease risk associated with early adversity. She received consistent funding from the National Institute of Health for her research, and she published over 100 peer-reviewed professional articles and book chapters. She also authored the book Broken Three Times: A Story of Child Abuse in America (Oxford University Press).The book is a narrative non-fiction story that follows one family through the child welfare system, with each chapter providing launching points for discussing state-of-the-art policy, practice, and scientific updates.

Dr. Kaufman is also first author on the paper-and-pencil KSADS child psychiatric diagnostic interview which has been translated into more than 30 languages, and she served as co-Principal Investigator on the grants funded to update the KSADS to the web-based computer-administered format. As one of the principal developers of the KSADS, Dr. Kaufman has served as a consultant on numerous federally-funded, and industry-sponsored child psychiatric clinical trials.

Contact Information:

Joan Kaufman, PhD
Telephone: (203) 772-8152
jkauman1@jhmi.edu
joan.kaufman@ksads-comp.com

Kenneth Kobak, PhD
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder
Joan Kaufman

Dr. Kobak has been conducting research on computer applications in psychiatry for over 25 years, including computerized assessments of adult and adolescent psychopathology, computer-administered psychotherapy, web-based clinical training and education, and use of mobile devices to enhance treatment compliance and treatment outcomes. These studies have made a substantial contribution to the published literature in the field.

Dr. Kobak earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology in 1996. While managing a clinical trials research unit at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Dept. of Psychiatry, he pioneered development of several computer-administered rating scales that are widely used in clinical drug trials today. He founded Research Training Associates, a consultancy group using new technologies for training raters to improve reliability and validity in clinical trials.

In 2002 Dr. Kobak helped launch MedAvante, which provides remote, centralized clinical ratings in clinical drug trials. Since 2008 he has led the Center for Telepsychology which provides on-line continuing education on evidence-based psychotherapy treatments. Dr. Kobak has had continuous NIH funding since 2002 and was Principal Investigator on the four NIH grants received for the development of the web-based KSADS-COMP child psychiatric diagnostic tools. Dr. Kobak continues to leverage his scientific expertise and interests to stay at the forefront in research on computer applications in psychology.


Contact Information:

Kenneth Kobak, PhD
KSADS-COMP Inc.
22 North Harwood Circle
Madison, WI 53717
Phone/fax: 608-406-2621
ken.kobak@ksads-comp.com


www.telepsychology.net

Alison Deep, MCA
Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder
Joan Kaufman

Mr. Deep has more than 23 years of experience in software development and systems integration in diversified projects and technologies, with expertise in the areas of clinical research, pharmacogenomic and life science research, bio pharmaceutical marketing and Managed Health Care. He has been working on KSADS program and SBIR grants for the past 9 years and is the principal architect of the KSADS-COMP application.

He is responsible for strategy, technical direction, and operational oversight and is responsible for managing large and complex project engagements that require careful orchestration of processes, people, and tools. He is responsible for creating new program management standards, policy framework, cybersecurity, risk management, internal audit & compliance, change management and process efficiencies for project delivery. He successfully led the organization to receive GDPR and 21 CFR Part 11 compliance (under review).

Mr. Deep has a Masters in Computer Applications (MCA), a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Madras Christian College, and a post graduate diploma in Software Engineering and Systems Management from the National Institute of Information Technology.

Contact Information:

alison.deep@ksads-comp.com

(281) 756-7703

Frequently Asked Questions

Clinician-Administered KSADS-COMP User Questions:

The clinician-administered KSADS-COMP is designed to be an integrated interview that collects data from the parent/caregiver and the child. It has four components:

  • Pre-interview
  • Introductory interview
  • Screen sections
  • Diagnostic supplements

The parent component of the clinician-administered KSADS-COMP has been successfully used with children as young as 3 years of age, and the clinician-administered interview used with children as young as age 5. With younger children, however, when conducting the interview with the youth it is only recommended that the introductory interview and a few key modules be administered.

The Pre-Interview is an optional brief pre-screen that is completed independently remotely or in the clinic by the caregiver and/or youth before they see you. It is designed to help streamline the time it takes you to conduct the clinical interview. The caregiver and youth’s answers to the pre-screen questions are displayed on the screen as you go through the screening modules of clinician interview, and their responses can be reviewed before starting the interview. To do this, tap on the “Go to Reports” link on the far right column of the Patient List page. Then click on the Symptom Response/Comments box, select Youth and/or Parent Pre-Interview, and click “Execute” to review their responses.

The pre-interview consists of all the current questions from the screening interview of the KSADS-COMP. There are about 180 questions in the pre-interview, and it should take the patient about 20 minutes to complete. A subset of the screening modules can be selected if a shorter pre-interview is desired.

The youth self-administered pre-interview questions of the clinician-administered KSADS-COMP was designed for youth ages 11 and above. Children younger than age 11 would likely need additional support from research assistants or clinicians to complete these questions.

Absolutely. Information attained in the introductory interview may also suggest key modules to administer. Clinicians are free to select any subset of diagnostic modules for completion and do not have to select the modules before beginning the interview.

Yes. The pre-interview items help to streamline the assessments, but they are not required to generate diagnoses.

The Consensus Interview is done after you have completed both the parent and teen interviews. It is your chance to use your clinical judgment in weighing both sources of information to come up with final symptom ratings. For each item in the consensus interview, both the teen and parent’s responses to that item will appear on the screen, along with any notes you took. Use your clinical judgment to pick a final rating; you can even choose a different rating than you originally gave to either the teen or the parent if other information came up to affect your rating. Usually, however, the rating would typically be a rating you gave to either the teen or the parent. Note that the consensus interview will branch based on your consensus rating for each item. Since parent and teen may have answered questions differently, some follow up questions may have only been answered by only one of them, due to branching logic. In that case, only the answers from the person who answered the question will appear.

In general, research suggests parents/caregivers are better informants on externalizing behaviors, and youth are better informants on internalizing symptoms. However, there are inevitably exceptions to this rule (e.g., a child denied suicidality when interviewed, however the parent reported finding the child the day prior in the closet with a rope around their neck). Ultimately raters will need to use their clinical judgement in deriving consensus “best estimate” symptom ratings.

During a clinician interview, you will be able to go back to any previous question in the module by clicking on the Back icon in the upper left corner. You will see a drop down of all the questions and answers from that module that you have completed up to that point. Click on the question ID for the question you want to change. It will then take you back to that question in the interview. Keep in mind that if you change an answer to a question, you will have to re-answer all the subsequent questions in that module.
During the clinician-administered interview, you will also be able to change answers to questions in prior modules, with the following exception: Once you have begun a supplement for a disorder, you cannot edit the screen module for that disorder.
If new information comes up after starting the supplement that has changed your initial responses, you will be able to integrate this new information into your consensus ratings.
For more information on changing answers after completing a module, please review the technical manuals under “Supporting Documents”.
Self-Administered KSADS-COMP User Questions:

While the youth self-administered KSADS-COMP was designed for youth ages 11 and above, the youth self-administered KSADS-COMP has been successfully used in the large Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study of 11,000 children who were 9 years of age at the study onset. Children younger than age 11 may need additional support from research assistants or clinicians when completing the youth self-administered KSADS-COMP.

Before the start of an assessment, you can pre-select modules that you want administered to only collect diagnostic information in modules that you need. You do not need to administer all the modules to generate diagnostic reports.

To select only certain modules to administer, click on the link “Click here to start” to launch the interview. Scroll down below the ‘Do the interview now’ button and click ‘Click here to re-select the modules.’ A drop-down menu will appear. Click on the modules you want to administer to the patient and then click the blue “Save selected modules” on the bottom of the screen. If you don’t click this, it will not save your choices and all modules will be administered. Note if you choose Mood Disorders, it will automatically select the sleep and suicide modules as well, as they are part of the Mood Disorders module. Again, if you don’t click the link taking you to this screen to select modules, but instead click ‘Click here to do the interview now” it will administer all modules by default.
Research studies can also be set up to only offer a subset of modules to all study participants to assure uniformity in data collection.

In the self-administered KSADS-COMP, the client will only be able to go back one question to make changes by using the back button.
General KSADS-COMP User Questions:

We have generated preassigned ID numbers for you. You can change the IDs to fit your preferences, however, NO PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (e.g., names, dates of birth) should be used in setting subject IDs. Click on the patient ID you want to rename. A window will pop up allowing you to change the Patient ID. Simply delete and/or type over the preassigned patient ID with the ID of your choosing. Remember to click “Update & Close” to save your entries. Please note that once you start an interview, you will not be able to modify the ID. However, you can change the ID if you have not entered any data yet in that record.

The KSADS-COMP server is very secure. It is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant, and it has also undergone rigorous penetration testing as required by the GDPR EU law. In alignment with general data security practices, however, we forbid the use of PHI in patient ID and throughout the KSADS-COMP interview.

All the responses in the KSADS-COMP are saved automatically; there is no need for the parent or youth to save their responses. Clinicians, parents, and youths can stop at any point and return to the interviews and resume where they left off.

Just ask them to make their best guess. Youth often have difficulty remembering dates and it can be helpful to ask them what grade they were in or about other significant events to help them identify the approximate dates for the onset of symptoms.

It is well documented in the literature that caregivers, youth, and clinicians often disagree on symptom ratings. The clinician-administered KSADS-COMP is considered the gold standard because it integrates information from both informants. We have preliminary data which suggest the caregiver and youth self-administered KSADS-COMP data can be integrated to derive diagnoses that very closely match clinician-derived diagnoses, but further development of these algorithms is warranted.

To obtain results of an individual KSADS-COMP assessment, click on the “Go to Reports” link for that client on the far-right column on the patient list screen. Once you click it, you will have options to select diagnoses, symptom response/comments, and other reports.

Please check our Foreign Translations page for translation availabilities. For inquiries regarding translation proposals, please contact joan.kaufman@ksads-comp.com or ken.kobak@ksads-comp.com.
Study Administrator Questions:

A study administrator can add or remove users from the site by clicking on the email link in the upper right corner, then click “Create/Edit Users” from the drop-down menu that appears.

To add a user, click on the drop-down menu under “Group Name’, and assign the user to the folders you want them to have access to by clicking on the folder names. A check will appear next to that folder. Then add their name, username (email) and password. Don’t forget to click the blue “Save” button. To delete existing user, go to Create/Edit Users, enter the person’s username in the “Search” box, click on the username when it appears to populate the screen with the user’s information, and remove the check “Active” box under “Status”. Don’t forget to click the blue “Save” button. For added security, we have a two-step authentication available for you.

You should see this blue button underneath your folders. Click View Details.

Underneath the graphic showing you how many administrations are left in your folders, you should see the button “Buy more administrations”. This button should take you to an automated purchasing process for more administrations.

Unfortunately, currently you cannot change the study administrator yourself. Please send misha.george@ksads-comp.com the name of your site, and the name and email address of the new administrator.

To export all data from all patients at your site into a single data file, click on your username in the upper right-hand corner. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose “Admin Reports”.

Please feel free to reach out us at info@ksadslogin.net.

Publications that used the KSADS-COMP

Development of Three Web-Based Computerized Versions of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Child Psychiatric Diagnostic Interview: Preliminary Validity Data

Townsend L, Kobak K, Kearney C, Milham M, Andreotti C, Escalera J, Alexander L, Gill MK, Birmaher B, Sylvester R, Rice D, Deep A, Kaufman J.

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2020 Feb;59(2):309-325. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.05.009. Epub 2019 May 18.
KSADS-COMP Perspectives on Child Psychiatric Diagnostic Assessment and Treatment Planning

Kaufman J, Kobak K, Birmaher B, de Lacy N.

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 May;60(5):540-542. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.08.470. Epub 2020 Dec 29.
Validation of the Korean self-administered computerized versions of the kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children (KSADS-COMP)

Lee J, Kim SJ, Kim D, Yang SJ, Lee S, Park J, Shin Y.

Asian J Psychiatr. 2023 Mar;81:103422. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103422. Epub 2022 Dec 21.
Computerized Version of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (KSADS-COMP): Development and Validation of the Korean Clinician-Administered Version

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