Concordance between mothers' reports and children's self-reports of depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study

• Published in: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 33; no. 2; p. 208
• Main Authors: Renouf, A G, Kovacs, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.1994
• Subjects: Adjustment Disorders - diagnosis; Adjustment Disorders - psychology; Adolescent; Adult; Child; Child of Impaired Parents - psychology; Cohort Studies; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - psychology; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mothers - psychology; Personality Assessment; Self Concept
• DOI: 10.1097/00004583-199402000-00008
• ISSN: 0890-8567

Developmental factors and maternal depression were examined for their impact on mother-child and clinician-child agreement concerning children's internal depressive symptoms. Data were derived from a clinically referred, racially mixed sample of school-age boys and girls (n = 113), with a study entry diagnosis of depression. Measures of agreement were based on parallel items from the self-rated Children's Depression Inventory, mother-rated Child Behavior Checklist, and clinician-rated, semistructured psychiatric interview with both the child and mother. Repeated measures of agreement were modeled longitudinally over a maximum of 7 years as a function of age, social-cognitive development, and maternal depression. Additional covariates were maternal psychopathology (excluding depression), socioeconomic status, and child's gender and verbal ability. Mother-child and clinician-child agreement increased as a function of the child's age during the follow-up and was consistently attenuated by maternal depression. Depressed mothers overrated their children's symptomatology as compared with the children's self-reports. Clinicians should consider the young patient's age and level of maternal depression when weighing the relative merits of self-report and parental report of the child's depressive symptoms. Additional research is necessary to understand the mechanisms of change in parent-child agreement.