Correspondence between self-reported and parent-reported psychopathology in adolescents with eating disorders.
BACKGROUND
This study examined parent/youth self-report agreement on emotional and behavioral symptoms among adolescents with eating disorders (ED).


METHODS
Eighty-three parent-adolescent pairs participated. All adolescents (age 11-18 years) were females and met diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-IV for anorexia nervosa restricting type (n = 53) or bulimia nervosa (n = 30). Diagnoses were confirmed using the Structured Inventory for Anorectic and Bulimic Syndromes. Parents completed the Child Behaviour Checklist, and the adolescents completed the corresponding Youth Self-Report.


RESULTS
Results of the interclass correlation provide very poor coefficients between parents and adolescents, especially for the internalizing subscale. Analyses of variance of repeated measures revealed significant differences in the total problem score and the internalizing subscore between parents and adolescents. Parents reported significantly more internalizing problems than adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
Agreement between parents and adolescents regarding the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms in adolescents with ED is low. In contrast to previous studies in non-ED samples, adolescents with ED reported lower levels of internalizing problems than their parents. Denial and minimization may be underlying reasons for our findings and represent obstacles in the psychological assessment of adolescents with ED.
Salbach-Andrae
Harriet
H
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin, Germany. harriet.salbach@charité.de
Klinkowski
Nora
N
Lenz
Klaus
K
Pfeiffer
Ernst
E
Lehmkuhl
Ulrike
U
Ehrlich
Stefan
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires