Informant Agreement and Effects of Dual Parent Involvement in Treatment of Children with Mood Disorders

Parental concordance regarding child symptoms and parent beliefs about treatment was examined in 117 families of children with mood disorders. Parent-teacher agreement regarding child behavior and social skills was examined in 107 parent-teacher dyads. Parent teacher agreement was low for ratings of child mood symptoms and high for ratings of child social behavior. Parents and teachers did not differ in the level of agreement with clinician ratings of child functioning. Parents and teachers demonstrated greater agreement on ratings of child depressive symptoms when participant families were of higher socioeconomic status as compared to families of lower socioeconomic status. Parental agreement at baseline regarding child symptoms and need for treatment did not predict whether one or two parents attended group treatment. The number of parents attending treatment was not found to predict parental agreement following treatment or change in child mood severity. Parental agreement did not predict treatment outcome.