GENDER AND THE COMPARISON OF SELF AND OBSERVER RATINGS OF ANXIETY ANDDEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS

Objective: This study assessed the influence of gender on the comparab ility of self and observer ratings of anxiety and depression in adoles cents. Method: Subjects were 75 inpatient adolescents who were adminis tered structured interviews of the revised Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HRSD-R) and Anxiety (HARS-R) and read the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Results: All measure s demonstrated adequate internal consistency and validity. The correla tion between the BDI and HRSD-R was significantly higher for females t han males; of 11 symptoms that overlap on the BDI and HRSD-R, observer s significantly agreed with males and females in their perceptions of 5 and 11 depressive symptoms, respectively. The correlation between th e BAI and HARS-R did not differ significantly for males and females. C onclusions: Results suggest that self-reports of anxiety symptoms are a valid, cost-effective alternative to anxiety observer ratings for bo ys and girls, while only girls' self-reports of depression are compara ble to depression ratings by observers. There is the need to collect s elf-report information from adolescent boys because they may not commu nicate subjective symptoms of depression, e.g., guilt, to observers.