Structured and Unstructured Interview

Clinical interviews exist on a spectrum between highly structured and completely unstructured formats:

Structured Interviews

"Interviewer asks series of questions, which are specific and phrased in a standardised manner" in a pre-established order. Detailed rules guide the interviewer's conduct, though they may formulate clarifying questions for ambiguous responses. This approach ensures consistency across different interviewers and settings, making it ideal for research and diagnostic standardisation.

Unstructured Interviews

These provide clinicians greater adaptability in question phrasing, ordering, and introduction. The approach "follows patient's spontaneous sequence of ideas" and allows practitioners to explore relevant topics while omitting unrelated ones based on situational context. This flexibility enables responses that better reflect real-life client behaviour.

Behavioural Learning Context

Interview approaches relate to broader principles of operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement strengthens desirable behaviours, negative reinforcement removes aversive stimuli, while positive and negative punishment aim to reduce unwanted behaviour — all relevant frameworks when assessing patient behaviour during clinical interviews.