Screening for psychiatric disorders in an area affected by the Chernobyl disaster: The reliability and validity of three psychiatric screening questionnaires in Belarus

The reliability and criterion validity of Russian versions of three psychiatric screening questionnaires (the General Health Questionnaire, 12-item version; the Goldberg scales for anxiety and depression; and, the Bradford Somatic Inventory) were assessed in the Gomel region (Belarus), one of the most severely contaminated areas that resulted from the nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl in 1986. All instruments were found to have good internal reliability indices. Retest reliability of the GHQ, not tested for in the other instruments, was modest. Criterion validity, using a semi-structured interview on the basis of the Munich Diagnostic Checklist for DSM-III-R as external criterion, was good for the Goldberg scales, but modest for the two other instruments.