Measurement Invariance Across Parent and Self-Ratings of Extremely Low Birth Weight Survivors and Normal Birth Weight Controls in Childhood and Adolescence on the Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report

Analyzing differences between parent- and self-report measures with a latent space approach

We explore potential cross-informant discrepancies between child- and parent-report measures with an example of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self Report (YSR), parent- and self-report measures on children’s behavioral and emotional problems. We propose a new way of examining the parent- and child-report differences with an interaction map estimated using a Latent Space Item Response Model (LSIRM). The interaction map enables the investigation of the dependency between items, between respondents, and between items and respondents, which is not possible with the conventional approach. The LSIRM captures the differential positions of items and respondents in the latent spaces for CBCL and YSR and identifies the relationships between each respondent and item according to their dependent structures. The results suggest that the analysis of item response in the latent space using the LSIRM is beneficial in uncovering the differential structures embedded in the response data obtained from different perspectives in children and their parents. This study also argues that the differential hidden structures of children and parents’ responses should be taken together to evaluate children’s behavioral problems.

Longitudinal Discrepancy in Adolescent Aggressive Behavior Problems: Differences by Reporter and Contextual Factors

Little is known about the developmental course of informant discrepancies in adolescent aggressive behavior problems, though whether aggression increases or decreases over time depends on reporter. Evaluating discrepancies longitudinally can uncover patterns of agreement/disagreement between reporters across time and determine contexts that give rise to these differences. This study addresses longitudinal informant discrepancies by examining parent-report and adolescent report of adolescent aggressive behavior problems over time and further investigates possible contextual factors related to the longitudinal discrepancy. Five-waves (from age 11.5 to 15) of multi-informant data from the PROSPER project (N = 977; 52% female; 87% Caucasian) were used to test longitudinal change in informant discrepancies between mother-, father-, and adolescent-reported aggressive behavior problems. Results showed that parents reported more aggression than their adolescents at age 11.5 and that the discrepancy at first converged over time before diverging. By age 15, adolescents reported more aggression than their parents. Parental hostility, family status, and adolescent gender predicted change in informant discrepancies. Practical and developmental implications are discussed for assessing and determining accurate change in adolescent aggressive behavior problems.

Trajectories of psychopathology in extremely low birth weight survivors from early adolescence to adulthood: a 20-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Individuals born extremely preterm are exposed to significant perinatal stresses that are associated with an increased risk of psychopathology. However, a paucity of longitudinal studies has prevented the empirical examination of long-term, dynamic effects of perinatal adversity on mental health. Here, internalizing and externalizing problems from adolescence through adulthood were compared in individuals born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1,000 g) and normal birth weight (NBW; >2,500 g).

METHODS

Internalizing and externalizing data were collected over 20 years in three waves, during adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood. Growth models were used to compare longitudinal trajectories in a geographically based sample of 151 ELBW survivors and 137 NBW control participants born between 1977 and 1982 matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status at age 8.

RESULTS

After adjusting for sex, socioeconomic and immigrant status, and family functioning, ELBW survivors failed to show the normative, age-related decline in internalizing problems over time relative to their NBW peers (β = .21; p < .01). Both groups exhibited small declines in externalizing problems over the same period. Self-esteem (but not physical health, IQ, or maternal mood) partially mediated the association between ELBW status and internalizing problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Extremely low birth weight survivors experienced a blunting of the expected improvement in depression and anxiety from adolescence to adulthood. These findings suggest that altered physiological regulatory systems supporting emotional and cognitive processing may contribute to the maintenance of internalizing problems in this population.