Mother-adolescent agreement on the symptoms and diagnoses of adolescent depression and conduct disorders.

OBJECTIVE

To determine rates and correlates of mother-adolescent agreement on the symptoms and diagnoses of depression and conduct disorders.

METHOD

The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia in School Age Children was administered to a community sample of 460 adolescents and their mothers. Race, gender, family adaptability and cohesion, and living arrangement were evaluated as predictors of agreement.

RESULTS

Mother-adolescent agreement was low (kappa < 0.40) for all diagnoses and symptoms with these exceptions: feeling tired (kappa = 0.40), inattention (kappa = 0.50), vandalism (kappa = 0.50), and chronic violation of rules (kappa = 0.72). Cohesion and adaptability were associated with mother-adolescent agreement on the symptoms and diagnosis of depression. This association was not demonstrated as consistently for agreement on the symptoms and diagnosis of conduct disorders.

CONCLUSION

Study findings underscore the necessity of collecting data from both a parent and the adolescent when assessing an adolescent's psychological status.