CONCORDANCE OF PARENT-CHILD TEMPERAMENT RATINGS IN A CLINICAL-SAMPLE OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS

Fifty-six adolescents meeting DSM-III-R criteria for anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and major depression, were asked to complete self-assessment s of temperament using the Dimensions of Temperament Survey-Revised (D OTS-R). Parents independently rated their children using a parent vers ion of this scale. We found that parents and patients agreed significa ntly on all nine subscales. This high correlation suggests that parent s' perceptions of their adolescents' temperaments concur with the adol escents' self-perceptions. These findings suggest that the observation of temperament remains concordant even in parent/child dyads often ch aracterized by significant conflict.