Comparison of Social Workers' and Psychiatrists' GAF Ratings

Anthony A. Kopera, Ph.D.Authors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.53.10.1329-a

To the Editor: I read with interest the article in the March issue assessing interdisciplinary reliability in the use of the DSM-IV Global Assessment of Functioning scale (1). The authors' conclusion is that with systematic training, social workers can provide reasonable assessments of a client's functioning. This conclusion is drawn from the results of the study, which showed a positive correlation between the GAF ratings that social workers and psychiatrists gave to discharged inpatients.

May I suggest three alternative conclusions? First, adequately trained psychiatrists can achieve the same level of competence as social workers. Second, trained by a psychologist, both social workers and psychiatrists can become competent in use of the GAF. Third, with similar training, interrater reliability among those using an instrument increases. Which conclusion is the most parsimonious?

Footnote

Dr. Kopera is affiliated with the Community Counseling Centers of Chicago.

Reference

Harel TZ, Smith DW, Rowles JM: A comparison of psychiatrists' clinical-impression-based and social workers' computer-generated GAF scores. Psychiatric Services 53:340-342, 2002

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Published In

Psychiatric Services

Volume 53 • Number 10 • October 2002

Pages: 1329-a - 1330

History

Published in print: October 2002

Published online: 8 October 2014

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Anthony A. Kopera, Ph.D.

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Comparison of Social Workers' and Psychiatrists' GAF Ratings

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Reference