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Examining African American Adolescent Depression in a Community Sample: The Impact of Parent/Child Agreement

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Abstract

This study examined rater congruence and discrepancies in African American parent–adolescent reports of emotional concerns, behavioral functioning and depression. Using parent child reports of functioning from the ASEBA CBCL and YSR self-report instruments, and clinician rated depression via the CDRS-R, the team examined baseline data from a non-clinical community sample of 35 African American parent–youth dyads. Data suggest that discordance in parent–youth dyad reporting on perceptions of adolescent behaviors and emotions is a helpful factor in predicting depression in African American adolescents. Additionally, the research team identified moderate to strong correlations between clinician-rated and adolescent-rated depression. These data provide a novel examination of the potential significance of parent–adolescent congruence and discrepancies in reporting on youth emotional and behavioral states and its significance for assessing depressive symptoms in teens.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Breland-Noble is funded by a career (K) award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (MH073814) and recently completed service under the Loan Repayment Program via the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). The authors would like to thank Ms. Antoinette Burriss, Drs. Eugene Oddone, Carl Pieper and David Steffens for their contributions to this manuscript. The AAKOMA Project Adult Advisory Board Members include Reverend Clarence Burke, Beacon Light Missionary Baptist Church; Ms. Cynthia Clinton, J.D., Duke University Medical Center; Dr. Karon Dawkins, UNC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Mrs. Cynthia Laws-Davis, Passage Home; Dr. Angela Lee, North Carolina Central University Counseling Center; Dr. Theresa Lewis, private practice; Mrs. H. Kathy Williams, Durham Public Schools—retired; Mrs. Janis Quarles, Wake County Schools—retired; Mrs. Karen Sansom Goodman, Haven House; Judge Joe Webster, NC Office of Administrative Law; Dr. Delbert Wigfall, Duke University Medical Center, Department of Nephrology; Mr. Allan Younger, retiree, IBM and Mrs. Marjorie Younger, Wake County Schools—retiree.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3527, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Alfiee M. Breland-Noble & Bridget Weller

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  1. Alfiee M. Breland-Noble
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  2. Bridget Weller
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Correspondence to Alfiee M. Breland-Noble.

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Breland-Noble, A.M., Weller, B. Examining African American Adolescent Depression in a Community Sample: The Impact of Parent/Child Agreement. J Child Fam Stud 21, 869–876 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9547-z

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