Agreement Between Parent- and Self-Reports of Psychopathic Traits and Externalizing Behaviors in a Clinical Sample

Abstract

A number of studies have identified discrepancies in informant ratings of externalizing behaviors in youth, but it is unclear whether similar discrepancies exist between informants when rating psychopathic traits. In this study, we examined parent-child agreement on ratings of both psychopathic traits and externalizing behaviors, and examined the factors that influence agreement in both of these domains. A total of 282 children between 7 and 16 years (M = 10.60 years, SD = 1.91) from an outpatient child psychiatric clinic participated in this study. Our findings revealed low levels of parent-child agreement on these measures (ICC values ranging from .02 to .30 for psychopathic traits; ICC values ranging from .09 to .30 for externalizing behaviors). In addition, our findings did not support the moderating effects of child's age, gender, clinical diagnosis, informant, and parental conflict on the relationship between parent- and child-ratings of psychopathic traits and externalizing behaviors. Further research is needed to better understand how parents and child reports of child's externalizing behaviors and psychopathic traits are similar and/or different from one another and factors that influence these agreements.

Adolescent–Parent Agreement on Callous–Unemotional Traits in Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…It is noteworthy that several studies have found poor parent-child agreement in the assessment of internalizing [41,42] and externalizing symptoms [43] in children. The present study relied on the information from the parents to determine children's ADHD and ODD symptoms, which may influence the parent-children agreement on the CU traits.…”

Assessing Psychopathic Traits Among Children: The First Validation Study of the Child Problematic Traits Inventory in a Clinical Sample

“…Such evidence would not only suggest that the three CPTI dimensions are at least in part dependent on each other in their relation to the external criterion measures but also would corroborate with the commonly accepted view that psychopathic personality can best be described as a constellation of co-occurring traits (e.g., Colins, Fanti, Larsson, et al, 2017). Finally, informant agreement in the area of youth psychopathy is typically studied while relying on child self- and parent-reports (e.g., Ooi et al, 2017) or on mother and father reports (e.g., Fanti, Kyranides, Lordos, Colins, & Andershed, 2018). Actually, relatively few studies examined how well parents and teachers correspond when rating a child in terms of psychopathic traits.…”