(PS4-100) Discrepancies in Parent-adolescent BASC-3 Scores & Treatment Adherence

The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3) serves as a widely utilized tool for assessing the emotional and behavioral well-being of children and adolescents. Parent-adolescent discrepancies on measures often occur within clinical settings. Clinicians may use parent-adolescent reports to influence clinical decision-making. Thus, it is important to understand how parent-adolescent discrepancies relate to treatment outcomes and adherence.

Data from twenty-nine parent-adolescent dyads was gathered via a university-affiliated psychological clinic. Predominantly, parents self-identified as female (96.6%). Adolescents, ranging from 12-17 years old, were primarily female (58.6%) with an average age of 14.76 years (SD = 1.58). Parents completed the BASC-3: Adolescent Parent Rating Scale (PRS), and adolescents completed the BASC-3: Adolescent Self Report of Personality (SRP). Both assessments featured scales such as: atypicality, anxiety, depression, somatization, attention problems, hyperactivity, and internalizing problems. Mutual termination agreement was established from a drop-down menu (e.g., mutually agreed termination, not mutually agreed; client initiated) in clinician termination notes, and participants were sorted into groups for which dyads did or did not mutually agree on termination. Session attendance was calculated by counting attended sessions over total scheduled sessions to create a percentage, with participants categorized into high (≥60%) or low (< 60%) attendance groups. T-tests were used to determine any parent-adolescent score differences in addition to group differences for absolute discrepancies on the common BASC-3 scales concerning treatment termination and attendance.

No significant differences were observed on any scales concerning mutual termination agreements. In contrast, significant differences were noted on two scales concerning attendance groups. High attendance dyads demonstrated higher discrepancy scores compared to low attendance dyads (M = 8.12, SD = 5.86) for the somatization scale, t(26) = 2.61, p = .02, indicating less parent-adolescent agreement. A similar pattern emerged for the attention problems scale; high attendance dyads exhibited greater discrepancy values compared to low attendance dyads (M = 8.31, SD = 5.99), t(26) = 2.40, p = .02.

Attendance displayed a significant relationship with somatization and attention problems, with dyads with high attendance showing greater absolute discrepancies on both scales. Conceptualizing and clinically addressing discrepancy scores on the BASC-3 may be important for attendance patterns among adolescents, specifically for somatic and attention-related concerns. Both adolescent somatic and attentional symptoms are behaviors that parents may continue to observe during treatment termination if not properly addressed.