Informant Discrepancies in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in an At-Risk Sample: The Role of Parenting and School Engagement

Abstract

A number of studies have used variable-centered approaches to examine informant discrepancies on children's behavior problems; however, few such studies have used person-centered approaches to explore patterns of informant discrepancies or correlates of discrepancies in informant symptom ratings. The present study addressed these gaps by examining profiles of informant agreement on internalizing and externalizing symptoms and examining whether two important contextual factors, parenting and school engagement, are associated with profile membership. Data from an at-risk, urban sample of youth participants (N = 346, M age = 12.47 +/− 0.60 years, 56% male, and 75% Black), their caregivers, and one of their teachers were analyzed in the current study. Youth from 20 schools in a Mid-Atlantic state were screened for elevated levels of aggression and were selected to participate in the Early Adolescent Coping Power study. At baseline, youth, caregivers, and teachers reported on youth's internalizing symptoms and caregivers and teachers reported on youth's externalizing symptoms. Caregivers reported on their parenting; youth

Heterogeneity and heterotypic continuity of emotional and behavioural profiles across development

“…One limitation is the use of parentreport for only the SDQ subscales and covariates, which can produce some bias in the results. 43 The EB profiles do not represent clinical disorders. However, the SDQ has shown good predictive power for clinical diagnoses.…”

“…The additional strengths are the large sample provided by the MCS and its national representativeness. One limitation is the use of parent-report for only the SDQ subscales and covariates, which can produce some bias in the results [45]. The EB profiles do not represent clinical disorders.…”

“…Additionally, the subjective interpretation of the latent profiles must be considered when reading our results. Another limitation is the use of only parent-reporting for the SDQ subscales, which can produce some bias in the results due to discrepancies in the reporting of internalizing and externalizing symptoms between different sources (parent, teacher and child) [37]. The EB profiles do not represent clinical disorders.…”

Psychometric properties of the Portuguese teacher-version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits

“…Teachers often spend more time during the day with children than do parents, having the opportunity to observe them in various dynamics and in interaction with other children, as well as with themselves and other adults (Abikoff et al, 1993). Moreover, teachers observe children in both structured (e.g., classroom) and unstructured (e.g., lunchroom) settings with their peers (Curhan et al, 2020; Farrell et al, 2018). Thus, teacher-reports are relevant and unique sources of information about the children’s behavior.…”

Maternal support and caregiver–child symptom concordance among sexually abused children

“…Similarly, another study found that income was not related to discordance with regard to trauma-related symptom concordance (Wamser-Nanney & Campbell, 2021). Aspects of parenting, such as family cohesion, parental monitoring, communication, and lower family stress have been linked to a higher agreement in reports of non-trauma-exposed children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Al Ghriwati et al, 2018;Curhan et al, 2020;Kolko & Kazdin, 1993;Treutler & Epkins, 2003). However, family factors have not yet been investigated in relation to discordance in traumarelated symptom reports despite their potential relevance.…”