Agreement of Parents and Children on Characteristics of Pediatric Headache, Other Pains, Somatic Symptoms, and Depressive Symptoms in an Epidemiologic Study

Abstract

The examined potential moderator variables did not elucidate processes underlying the differences in child and parent agreement. There is no convincing evidence that the children's appraisal is less valid than their parents'. In summary, parents' reports cannot be viewed as a substitute for children's reports in pediatric pain and health assessment. Instead, each perspective represents a unique subjective reality and as such, both are of importance for research on pediatric pain and other health variables.

Improving the mental health of adolescents with epilepsy through a group cognitive behavioral therapy program

“…This occurred despite the fact that the CBT intervention did not involve the parents directly (they participated only in the first epilepsy education module). Health-related quality of life (QoL) research has shown that there is a lack of concordance between proxy and child reports of QoL, with proxy reports reporting a lower QoL compared with child reports [31][32][33][34]. Fathers and mothers of children with epilepsy rate QoL similarly but differently from the child [32].…”

Whose pain is it anyway? Comparability of pain reports from children and their parents

“…musculoskeletal, headache, stomach-ache etc., overall the results from these studies are broadly similar to those of ours. Three of the four studies [8][9][10] reported generally poor agreement between parent and child ratings, while the last reported somewhat higher concordance [16]. Three studies [9,10,16] also found that children reported pain more often (and of greater intensity) than their parents, in the fourth study this relationship held for girls aged 12 and over but not for boys or younger girls.…”

“…Three of the four studies [8][9][10] reported generally poor agreement between parent and child ratings, while the last reported somewhat higher concordance [16]. Three studies [9,10,16] also found that children reported pain more often (and of greater intensity) than their parents, in the fourth study this relationship held for girls aged 12 and over but not for boys or younger girls. The influence of age and gender on concordance of the ratings was variable across the studies, but the finding that agreement between the ratings was better where the condition was more severe was reported in all studies, as in the present study.…”

“…This is particularly relevant in longitudinal studies where children are too young to reliably selfreport at the initial assessments although they might be able to do so at later follow-up points. It has been shown that the agreement between parent and child ratings is generally poor [8][9][10], although higher in the clinical samples than in the studies recruiting healthy children [11]. Nevertheless, reports of spinal pain in community or school based cohorts often fail to describe the degree of parents' involvement in the data collection, lending uncertainty to the reported estimates [12].…”

Medication beliefs and perceived barriers in adolescent renal transplant patients and their parents

“…For these reasons, adolescent perceptions cannot be substituted with parent reports but, rather, each perspective needs to be considered for effective medical management. Studies examining parent and child reports of health factors have found differences in perceptions, but results have been inconsistent, and no clear predictors or moderators of parent-child agreement have emerged [20][21][22]. Studies examining consistency of parent and child reports specifically in transplantation were not identified in the literature; however, understanding how they each perceive medications is critical for optimal management.…”