CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ADOLESCENT REPORT AND PARENT REPORT OF PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSTIC DATA

Objective: To examine the degree of agreement between parent and adole scent report of major psychiatric disorders in the adolescent (14 to 1 8 years of age). Method: A total of 281 parent-adolescent pairs were i nterviewed separately regarding psychopathology in the adolescent. Res ults: The kappa values for parent-adolescent agreement on the disorder s ranged from .19 for alcohol abuse/dependence to .79 for conduct diso rder, with an average kappa of .42. Excellent agreement was found for conduct disorder and the core symptom of anorexia; good agreement was found for separation anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivit y disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, substance abuse/dependence, and the core symptom for bulimia; poor agreement was found for major depression, dysthymia, anxiety disorders other than separation anxiety , alcohol abuse/dependence, and the infrequent core symptoms of bipola r and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Parent-adolescent agreement was not influenced by gender, current adolescent age, parental education l evel, disorder onset age, or severity of disorder. Conclusions: For de tecting cases of adolescent psychopathology, there are clear advantage s to the current consensus position that combines adolescent and paren t report, especially for externalizing disorders. However, if forced t o choose one informant, assessing the adolescent will result in the de tection of more diagnosed cases.