Informant Agreement in Treatment Gains for Child Anxiety

The present study examined multiple informant agreement in reports of treatment gains in a sample of children (M age = 10.27) treated for social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Mothers and fathers agreed on their child's improvement, and parents and children also generally agreed on the child's improvement. This agreement was typically not differentiated by child's age or gender. Mothers and fathers did not agree with teachers. Parent-child “improvement agreement” was not predicted by child's age, gender, social desirability, or maternal psychopathology. The results indicate that mothers, fathers, and children report similar magnitudes of improvement following treatment.