A preliminary comparison of teacher ratings and child self-report of depression, anxiety, and aggression in inpatient and elementary school samples.

Using equivalent scales, the differential utility of teachers' ratings of elementary school (n = 142) and inpatient (n = 83) 8- to 12-year-old children was examined by comparing teachers' correspondence with the inpatient and elementary school children's self-reports of depression, anxiety, and aggression. Teacher-child correspondence was significant for all three traits in the elementary school sample, yet only significant for aggression in the inpatient sample. However, the level or severity of depression and anxiety symptoms that the teachers reported for the inpatient sample was similar to that reported by the children themselves. In contrast, elementary school children reported significantly more internalizing symptoms than their teachers. Inpatient children reported more depression, but not significantly more anxiety and aggression than elementary school children. For all traits, teachers reported significantly more symptoms for inpatient children, after controlling for child self-report and socioeconomic status. The utility of teachers' ratings across samples, method variance and rater biases, and issues pertaining to self-report are discussed.