Differences between Reports from Children, Parents and Teachers: Implications for Epidemiological Studies

Abstract

This study describes the different prevalences obtained when varying combinations of informants were used to identify emotional and behavioural disorders in a representative sample of 336 children living in two-parent families in the community of Adelaide, South Australia. When different informants were used to identify children with disorders, the estimated prevalences ranged from 3.3±1.6% to 17.9±4.1% for younger children, and 6.0±2.9% to 19.9±4.9% for older children. Results from the study highlight potential methodological problems which arise in epidemiological studies due to differences between reports from children, parents, and teachers describing childhood emotional and behavioural problems.