Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale

Teona Serafimova; Maria Loades; Daisy Gaunt; Esther Crawley

doi:10.1177/1359104521994880

Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale

Teona Serafimova, Maria Loades, Daisy Gaunt, Esther Crawley

Department of Psychology

University of Bristol

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (SciVal)

136 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background:

One in three adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) have mental health problems. Multi-informant perspectives are key to psychological assessment. Understanding parent-child agreement is crucial to accurate diagnosis, particularly where severe fatigue limits self-report.
Methods:

Agreement on the revised children’s anxiety and depression scale (RCADs) was assessed between parents and children with CFS/ME (n = 93) using Bland-Altman plots, cross tabulations and regression analyses.
Results:

Diagnostic thresholds were met more frequently based on child-report. Parent- and child-report had similar sensitivity and specificity on RCADS compared to gold-standard diagnostic interviews. Regression analysis found similar accuracy between both reports. For anxiety diagnoses, odds ratio (OR) for child-report was 1.10 (CI = 1.06–1.14), and 1.10 (CI = 1.05–1.14) for parent-report. For depression, OR for child report was 1.26 (CI = 1.11–1.43), while for parent-report is was 1.25 (CI = 1.10–1.41). For total score, OR for child-report was 1.10 (CI = 1.05–1.13) while OR for parent-report was 1.09 (CI = 1.05–1.13).
Conclusions:

Reasonable agreement was observed between parent- and child-report of mental health symptoms in paediatric CFS/ME. While parent-report can facilitate psychological evaluation in CFS/ME, this is not a substitute for a child’s own report.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	367-380
Number of pages	14
Journal	Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Volume	26
Issue number	2
Early online date	15 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104521994880
Publication status	Published - 30 Apr 2021

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study received no specific funding. Professor Crawley was funded, during data collection, by the National Institute for Health Research (Senior Research Fellowship, SRF-2013-06-013). Dr Loades is funded by a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship (DRF-2016-09-021). This report is independent research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Funders	Funder number
National Institute for Health Research	DRF-2016-09-021, SRF-2013-06-013

Keywords

Chronic fatigue syndrome
anxiety
depression
myalgic encephalomyelitis
paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome
parent child agreement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Clinical Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/1359104521994880Licence: CC BY

RCADs_Parent_Child_Agreement_CFSME_CCPP_FINAL_MANUSCRIPT_CLEAN.pdf
FORTHCOMING: Serafimova, Teona ; Loades, Maria ; Gaunt, Daisy ; Crawley, Esther. / Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale. In: Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2021. (C) SAGE Publications. Reproduced by permission of SAGE Publications.
Accepted author manuscript, 436 KB

Cite this

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title = "Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children{\textquoteright}s Anxiety and Depression Scale",

abstract = "Background:One in three adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) have mental health problems. Multi-informant perspectives are key to psychological assessment. Understanding parent-child agreement is crucial to accurate diagnosis, particularly where severe fatigue limits self-report.Methods:Agreement on the revised children{\textquoteright}s anxiety and depression scale (RCADs) was assessed between parents and children with CFS/ME (n = 93) using Bland-Altman plots, cross tabulations and regression analyses.Results:Diagnostic thresholds were met more frequently based on child-report. Parent- and child-report had similar sensitivity and specificity on RCADS compared to gold-standard diagnostic interviews. Regression analysis found similar accuracy between both reports. For anxiety diagnoses, odds ratio (OR) for child-report was 1.10 (CI = 1.06–1.14), and 1.10 (CI = 1.05–1.14) for parent-report. For depression, OR for child report was 1.26 (CI = 1.11–1.43), while for parent-report is was 1.25 (CI = 1.10–1.41). For total score, OR for child-report was 1.10 (CI = 1.05–1.13) while OR for parent-report was 1.09 (CI = 1.05–1.13).Conclusions:Reasonable agreement was observed between parent- and child-report of mental health symptoms in paediatric CFS/ME. While parent-report can facilitate psychological evaluation in CFS/ME, this is not a substitute for a child{\textquoteright}s own report.",

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AU - Crawley, Esther

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Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Doctoral Research Fellowship: Depression in Paediatric Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME)

Cite this

Who should we ask about mental health symptoms in adolescents with CFS/ME? Parent-child agreement on the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Doctoral Research Fellowship: Depression in Paediatric Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME)

Cite this