Fathers' ratings in the assessment of their child's anxiety symptoms: a comparison to mothers' ratings and their associations with paternal symptomatology.
We examined the comparability between mothers' and fathers' ratings in the assessment of their child's anxiety symptoms. The sample consisted of 78 youth (6 to 17 years) and their mothers and fathers who presented to a childhood anxiety disorders specialty research clinic. Using intraclass correlation coefficients, mother?father agreement of their child's anxiety symptoms was found to be moderate. Mean differences between mothers' and fathers' ratings of their child's anxiety were not significantly different. Both maternal and paternal self-ratings of psychopathology predicted respective ratings of their child's anxiety. Although either mothers or fathers can provide useful information, use of multiple informants is encouraged, especially when parental psychopathology is present. Additional implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Moreno
Jacqueline
J
Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Fl 33199, USA.
Silverman
Wendy K
WK
Saavedra
Lissette M
LM
Phares
Vicky
V
D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011599:Psychopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results