The Challenge of Using Data from Multiple Informants: An Illustration Using a Longitudinal Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• Activity Number: 215
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Monday, July 30, 2012 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Caucus for Women in Statistics
• Author(s): Melissa Danielson*+ and Susanna Visser and Steven Cuffe
• Companies: CDC and CDC and University of Florida College of Medicine
• Keywords: multiple informants ; longitudinal data ; ADHD ; diagnostic criteria ; behavioral/emotional conditions ; children

Abstract

Diagnostic criteria for childhood behavioral/emotional conditions require data from several informants. While the use of multiple informants presents a more complete picture of symptoms and impact, it creates the challenge of resolving discrepancies across informants. We will use a school-based longitudinal study of ADHD as an example. At the first follow-up interview, the DISC was administered to children and their parents to assess the prevalence of comorbid internalizing and externalizing conditions. There was a low level of agreement for both internalizing and externalizing conditions, suggesting the importance of melding child responses with parent report to understand the true prevalence of these conditions. Additionally, there are differences in agreement by age and child ADHD status, illustrating developmental differences in the presentation and recognition of behavioral/emotional condition symptoms. Given these types of discrepancies by informant, prudence and clinical judgment should be practiced when analyzing these data. We will discuss implications for study results and present strategies for handling such discrepancies, such as age-dependent heuristics.