Agreement between Parents and Children regarding Child Mental and Behavioral Health Symptoms in Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Hematology Clinics

Background: The purpose of this project was to evaluate agreement about mental health among parents and children who participated in a mental health screening program in pediatric allergy, immunology, and hematology clinics. Methods: Patients aged 8-17 and their parents (n=70) treated in the Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Division of Hematology at Children’s National Health System completed the PROMIS Pediatric Profile 25, a mental and behavioral health measure of physical functioning, anxiety, depressive symptoms, fatigue, peer relationships, and pain interference. Patients with asthma and their parents also completed the PROMIS Asthma Impact module. T scores were calculated for each patient and parent. Results: Patients were 57% female with a mean age of 12.08 years (SD=2.89). Most patients identified as African-American (56%) or Caucasian (23%); 58% had asthma. Parent and child T scores for the Pediatric Profile domains were positively correlated, r range=.28-.60, ps\u3c.05, indicating strong agreement between raters. Parent and child ratings of the impact of asthma were not significantly correlated, r=.23, p\u3e.05. Parents estimated that asthma had a greater impact than child raters. Overall, parent-child agreement was unrelated to patient age, race, or sex, all ps\u3e.05. However, male patients were less likely to agree with parents regarding their anxiety than females; parents underestimated male patients’ anxiety and overestimated female patients’ anxiety, F(1,68)=5.05, p\u3c.05. Conclusions: Children with chronic illnesses and their parents generally agreed about child mental and behavioral health symptoms. Mental health discussions should include children, especially regarding anxiety, as parent-child agreement may be less likely