Poster #54 - Parent-Child Agreement of Social Anxiety Symptoms in Teens is Related to Adaptive Behavior

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

High parent-child agreement on clinical measures is related to better therapeutic outcomes (Becker-Haimes et al, 2018). Across studies of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) the degree of parent-child congruency on ratings of anxiety symptoms varies (Bermudez et al., 2015; White et al., 2011; Burrows et al., 2018). Furthermore, reports of congruence with parent-child ratings for anxiety in non-ASD populations also vary (Hamblin et al., 2016; Dirks et al., 2013). The goal of this project is to examine whether there is poorer parent-child agreement of social anxiety symptoms for ASD, compared to Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), and typically developing controls (TDC). We hypothesized that there is less parent-child agreement of SAD symptoms in adolescents with ASD compared to adolescents with SAD and TDC adolescents. Further, we examined whether parent-child agreement was associated with real world adaptive functioning.
Fifty parent-child pairs (Child Age: M[SD]=15.10[1.84]; Child IQ: M[SD]= 109.20[13.88]) completed the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule-5 (ADIS-5) Social Anxiety Module. The ADIS-5 was coded such that Severity represents clinician judgement and Interference reflects parent- or child-reported rating of impairment caused by SAD symptoms. Parents additionally completed a measure of adaptive functioning (Vineland-3). Following methods from Burrows and colleagues (2018), we conducted a two (Informant: Parent, Child) by three (Group: ASD, SAD, TDC) repeated-measures ANOVAs with post-hoc Tukey tests for Interference and Severity. A significant Group by Interference interaction was observed (p<.001), such that the TDC group had significantly lower scores for Interference than SAD and ASD groups. There was no Group by Severity interaction. A significant Group by Interference by Severity interaction (p<.05) was observed. To examine directionality of the interaction, we calculated a difference score between youth-reported and parent-reported symptoms, with higher scores indicating greater Interference rated by parent than the child. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant between-group difference, such that the ASD group had greater difference scores than SAD (p<.01), and TDC (p<.01) for both informant-reported interference and clinician-rated severity, meaning that parents reported greater SAD symptom impairment. Finally, we examined whether parent-child agreement was associated with adaptive behavior. A significant correlation was observed such that poor parent-child agreement related to poorer adaptive behavior (p<.01).
Altogether these results indicate that children with ASD may have less insight into symptoms of their anxiety. Alternatively, the findings of this study may also demonstrate that parents of children with ASD report greater symptoms of anxiety in their children than parents who do not have a child with ASD. Notably, clinicians did not differ significantly from parents and children, which indicates that clinicians may serve as mediators between parent and child discrepancies in reports of symptomatology. Finally, the relationship between parent-child agreement and adaptive behavior is meaningful, as it signifies that real-world ability to adaptively and appropriately respond may be impacted by discrepancies in parent- and child- of SAD impairment. Overall, results of this study may inform therapeutic approaches for families who have a child with ASD and anxiety.

Authors

• Charlotte Brown, Virginia Tech
  Presenting Author

• Ligia Antezana, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica E. Voyack, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• Molly E Maurin, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• Abigail Kirkpatrick, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nhi Ly, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• John A Richey, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marika Coffman, Virginia Tech
  Non-Presenting Author