Convergence in Reports of Adolescents’ Psychopathology: A Focus on Disorganized Attachment and Reflective Functioning

Abstract

Although convergence in parent–youth reports of adolescent psychopathology is critical for treatment planning, research documents a pervasive lack of agreement in ratings of adolescents’ symptoms. Attachment insecurity (particularly disorganized attachment) and impoverished reflective functioning (RF) are 2 theoretically implicated predictors of low convergence that have not been examined in the literature. In a cross-sectional investigation of adolescents receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment, we examined whether disorganized attachment and low (adolescent and parent) RF were associated with patterns of convergence in adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Compared with organized adolescents, disorganized adolescents had lower parent–youth convergence in reports of their internalizing symptoms and higher convergence in reports of their externalizing symptoms; low adolescent self-focused RF was associated with low convergence in parent–adolescent reports of internalizing symptoms, whereas low adolescent global RF was associated with high convergence in parent–adolescent reports of externalizing symptoms. Among adolescents receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment, disorganized attachment and lower RF were associated with weaker internalizing symptom convergence and greater externalizing symptom convergence, which if replicated, could inform assessment strategies and treatment planning in this setting.