On the reliability of the anamnestic interview.

Relatively structured interviews (involving a 27-item scale to be covered) were used to investigate the accounts by mothers regarding details of the lives of their children and their original attitudes regarding the imminent birth of the child during pregnancy. On the assumption that most interviewers assume data gleamed from anamnestic interviews have validity, Es sampled the maternal attitudes at different times. The mothers' statements were found to be differentially accurate; some information (such as height and weight of child at birth) were recalled accurately; anxiety served to distort the accuracy of some data, increase the degree of accuracy of other. The overall finding was to question the validity of most data derived from anamnestic interviews. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2HE11H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)