| There has been extensive researchers whose authors emphasize the finding that cross-informant ratings of childhood behavior problems are discrepant from one another (e.g., Achenbach, McConaughy, & Howell, 1987; Duhig, Renk, Epstein, & Phares, 2000). However, the results on the relationship between child-parent agreement and children's age, gender, and problem type, are incongruent. The current researcher examined the discrepancies between self-reports and parent reports of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Agreement on "caseness" was also examined and compared to agreement at the symptom level. The participants in this study were selected from archival data obtained from St. John's University's Center for Psychological Services. The total sample included 107 children (M = 12.1; SD = 2.9) and their parents or guardians. The participants completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992) or the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC 2, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) self-report and parent rating scales. The analyses did not support the hypothesis that children report more internalizing problems and less externalizing problems than their parents. Contrary to the hypothesis that informant discrepancies would increase with age for both internalizing and externalizing problems, age did not have an effect on child-parent agreement. The hypothesis that child-parent discrepancies will be larger for girls with internalizing problems than boys with internalizing problems was only partially supported. Finally, the analyses did not support the hypothesis that agreement on "caseness" would be greater than agreement on the symptom level. The usefulness of the BASC and BASC 2 is presented. Limitations and future research considerations will be discussed. The researcher addresses implications for practice for clinical and school psychologists. |
