The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS)[note 1] is a collection of psychiatric diagnostic criteria and symptom rating scales originally published in 1978.
Although largely replaced by more structured interviews that follow diagnostic criteria such as DSM-IV and DSM-5, and specific mood rating scales, versions of the SADS are still used in some research papers today.
There are various different versions of the K-SADS, each varying slightly in terms of disorders and specific symptoms covered, as well as the scale range used.
The interview covers both present issues (i.e., the reason the family is seeking an evaluation) as well as past episodes of the disorders.
A 2009 working draft removed all reference to the DSM-III-R criteria (which were replaced with the publication of the DSM-IV in 1994) and made some other modifications.