CROSS-INFORMANT AGREEMENT IN THE ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL PHOBIA IN YOUTH

In the present study involving children and adolescents with a princip al diagnosis of social phobia, we measured parent-child agreement rega rding social anxiety symptoms. Additionally, we examined variables rel ated to the severity of the children's social phobia symptoms as repor ted by children and as rated by clinicians. Examination of cross-infor mant agreement indicated little difference between mean parent and chi ldren ratings of the children's social fears. In contrast, there was a significant difference in parent and children ratings of the children 's avoidance, with parents endorsing greater degrees of social avoidan ce. Children's report of social avoidance was negatively related to sc ores on a measure of self-presentational concerns (i.e., social desira bility). Clinicians' determination of the severity of the children's s ocial phobia was also influenced by the children's self-presentation a s well as parent report of social avoidance and children's depression scores. Thus, this differential weighting by the clinician of parent v ersus child report may be related to the finding that children's self- reported social avoidance was negatively related to their concerns reg arding positive self-presentation. Results suggest the need to conside r the impact of social desirability when examining clinical characteri stics of children and adolescents with social phobia.