Does parent-child agreement vary based on presenting problems? Results from a UK clinical sample

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Discrepancies between child and parent reports of psychopathology are common.
• The influence of a child's specific difficulties on these discrepancies is not well understood.
• Investigating factors affecting parent-child agreement is crucial for accurate assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how child characteristics, specifically presenting difficulties, age, and gender, affect parent-child agreement on psychopathology.
• To analyze agreement on conduct and emotional problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 16,754 UK clinical records of children aged 11-17.
• Utilized data from the Child Outcomes Research Consortium.
• Correlated clinician-reported child difficulties with parent and child SDQ scores.

Main Results:

• Parent-child agreement on conduct problems varied significantly with the child's presenting difficulties, especially externalizing issues.
• Agreement was higher for conduct problems when they were inconsistent with the child's presentation (e.g., internalizing problems).
• No significant impact of child's age or gender on agreement was found for either conduct or emotional problems.

Conclusions:

• Child's presenting difficulties, particularly conduct problems, are linked to informant agreement in psychopathology reports.
• These findings necessitate careful consideration of child characteristics in clinical practice and research.
• Understanding informant discrepancies is key to improving diagnostic accuracy and treatment planning.