Parent-adolescent informant discrepancies on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Developmental researchers often use a multi-informant approach to measure adolescent behaviour and adjustment, but informant discrepancies are common. In general population samples, it is often found that parents report more positive and less negative outcomes compared to adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with informant discrepancies, including adolescent’s sex, and parent’s level of psychological distress and highest level of education. Methods: Informant discrepancies on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were investigated using a Latent Difference Score (LDS) approach, which estimates the true difference between parent and adolescent reports in a structural equation model. The sample were parent-adolescent dyads from the seventh wave of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (N = 6,631, 49.1% female, aged 17 years). Results: Compared to adolescents, parents reported lower levels of difficulties (emotional symptoms, peer problems, conduct problems) and higher levels of pro-social behaviour in their children. Conditional effects were found, as discrepancy was greater amongst parent-daughter dyads for emotion and peer problems, and greater amongst parent-son dyads for pro-social behaviour. Parent-adolescent discrepancy was also greater if parents had a lower level of psychological distress or a higher level of education. Conclusions: In a large general population sample from the UK, it was found that adolescents tended to report more negative and less positive outcomes than parents reported about them. Discrepancy was conditional on various factors, including adolescent’s sex, and parent’s level of psychological distress and education, showing that specific informant biases are likely to impact the measurement of adolescent behaviour and adjustment.