Choosing a Global Assessment Scale to Describe the Functioning of Children

To the Editor.—  Recently, two sets of investigators reported the development of downward age extensions of the Global Assessment Scale (GAS).¹ Sorensen et al² tested the GAS for Children (C) (J. Sorells, D. Rothman, P. Heldman, unpublished data, 1976), finding that it demonstrated acceptable interrater reliability, test-retest stability, and discrimination of outpatients from inpatients. Similarly, Shaffer et al³ independently developed a separate instrument, called the Children's (C) GAS. The two scales are similar in form and content. How is a clinical researcher to choose between these two instruments?The Table compares the GAS-C and CGAS, including both scale characteristics and known psychometric properties. Both scales use the format of the GAS, with a 100-point range of scores and descriptors for each ten-point interval. The scale content is very similar, with more complete withincategory descriptors and more behavioral descriptors in the CGAS. Although data do not support this