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Identifying psychosocial problems among youth: factors associated with youth agreement on a positive parent-completed PSC-17
- Authors:
- DUKE N., IRELAND M., BOROWSKY I.W.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 31(5), September 2005, pp.563-573.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The choice of informant is a critical piece in the identification of psychosocial problems in youth. This study aimed to identify youth and parent factors associated with whether the youth agrees with a positive parent-completed screen of youth psychosocial problems. Parents of youth aged 10-15 years who were seen for a medical visit at eight clinics in the Minneapolis-St. Pauls metropolitan area of the USA completed the 17-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17). Youth scoring positive on the screen and their parents/guardians were interviewed by telephone after the visit (n = 145). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were then conducted to identify parent characteristics and child factors associated with whether the youth agrees with the positive parent-completed screen. Fifty per cent of youth participants agreed with their parent on a positive parent-completed PSC-17 based on their completion of the Y-PSC-17 as a self-report measure. Youth who reported a positive Y-PSC-17 in agreement with their parent were twice as likely to meet diagnostic cut-offs on sub-scales of anxiety/depression and aggression on the Child Behaviour Checklist, reported lower parentchild connectedness and their parents reported more anger/frustration than youth who disagreed with the positive parent-completed screen. Most of these associations remained significant when controlling for the other factors and demographic characteristics in multivariate analysis. Findings indicate that when the youth agrees with a positive parent-completed PSC-17, there is higher parent frustration, lower parent-child connectedness, and the youth is more likely to have a diagnosis of an emotional or behavioural disorder. Thus, when possible, the use of both parent and youth as informants provides necessary information in formulating a comprehensive treatment strategy to address the psychosocial needs of youth.