Parental Concordance Research Articles

A method for determining potential parental contamination: linkage disequilibrium-based log-likelihood ratio analysis for IVF-PGT

BackgroundAt present, embryologists are attempting to use conventional in vitro fertilization (cIVF) as an alternative to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). However, the potential parental contamination origin of sperm cells and cumulus cells is considered the main limiting factor in the inability of cIVF embryos to undergo PGT.MethodsIn this study, we established an IVF-PGTA assay for parental contamination tests with a contamination prediction model based on allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium (LD) to compute the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) under competing ploidy hypotheses, and then verified its sensitivity and accuracy. Finally, comparisons of the effectiveness of SNP-based analysis and LLR-based IVF-PGTA among 40 cIVF embryos was performed, based on both statistical analysis of the parental contamination rate and chromosomal ploidy concordance rate between TE biopsy and ICM isolations.ResultsWith IVF-PGTA assay, biopsies with 10% maternal contamination could be detected accurately, and contamination caused by sperm cells could be eliminated completely. Utilizing LLR-based or single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) -based analyses, our comprehensive examination of 40 clinically discarded fresh cIVF embryos revealed an absence of paternal contamination. Strikingly, the LLR-based analysis uniquely revealed a mere instance of 24% maternal contamination within the trophectoderm cell (TE) biopsy of 5* embryo. Furthermore, it was solely through this analysis that embryo (9-F) was identified as a triploid of paternal origin.ConclusionsIn this study, we developed a new bioinformatics analysis method for identifying parental contamination during IVF-PGT, especially for couples with nonmale factor infertility.

Concordance of Child Self-Reported and Parent Proxy-Reported Posttraumatic Growth in Childhood Cancer Survivors.

Simple SummaryIn pediatric cancer settings, parents can be asked to provide information about the impact of cancer on the child. However, their assessment of the child may not be accurate. Research has shown that parents tend to underestimate the quality of life of their child following pediatric cancer. Little is known about the accuracy of parental reports of posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a consequence of pediatric cancer. Our study aimed to examine concordance of parent- and child-reported PTG with taking into account the parents’ own level of PTG. We found poor parent–child concordance, with parents reporting higher levels of PTG for their children than the children themselves. When assessing their child’s PTG, parents are influenced by their own level of PTG. These findings provide implications for the research on psychosocial outcomes of pediatric cancer using a multi-informant perspective as well as for the topic of veracity of PTG in general.This article aimed to analyze concordance of parent- and child-reported child posttraumatic growth (PTG) following pediatric cancer, the influence of the parents’ own level of PTG on the level of concordance and the influence of the parents’ and the child’s own level of PTG on the parents’ proxy reports of PTG in the child. The sample included 127 parent–child dyads. The children provided self-reports of PTG and the parents provided reports of their own as well as the child’s PTG. Overall, the results showed poor parent–child agreement on the child PTG, with the parents proxy-reporting higher levels of PTG than the children. The parents’ proxy reports of the child PTG were the most accurate at the lowest levels of the parents’ own level of PTG. The parents’ own level of PTG was a stronger predictor of the parents’ proxy reports than the child self-reported PTG. The results suggest that parents are not very accurate reporters of PTG in the child; therefore, their reports should be completed with child self-reports whenever possible.

Intersectional role of paternal gender-equitable attitudes and maternal empowerment in child undernutrition: a cross-sectional national study from India

ObjectivesTo investigate the role of the intersection of maternal empowerment, paternal gender-equitable attitudes, and household wealth in stunting and severe stunting among underfives in India.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingCommunity-based setting, nationally representative household...

Conceptualizing the relationship between parental education and own cognition in the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study

AbstractBackgroundFew studies have considered how parental education influences late‐life cognition; those that have often focus on maternal and not paternal influences or as part of a broader SES index, which does not allow us to understand the functional form of the relationship between parental education and cognition. We assessed whether mother’s education dichotomized at 8th grade, a commonly used cutoff among similarly aged older adults to our sample, sufficiently captured effects of parental education by systematically evaluating conceptualizations of parental education.MethodsKaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study baseline participants, aged 65 years plus (n=1,633), self‐reported own and parents’ education at baseline. Parental education was operationalized separately as (1) mother’s only, (2) father’s only, (3) mother and father together; each operationalization was considered as categorical (missing, <=8th grade, incomplete high school, high school diploma, postsecondary education), as >8th grade (with missingness indicator and with missing included in “low”), and as high school completion (with and without missingness indicator). Parental (4) concordance (both high, high mother, high father, both low), (5) highest parental level, and (6) lowest parental level were also evaluated. Verbal episodic memory (VEM), semantic memory (SEM), and executive functioning (EF) from the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS) were considered separately in covariate‐adjusted linear models. The lowest Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) model was considered to provide the best fit.ResultsAcross all parental education operationalizations, 8th grade cut‐offs performed best; categorical (5‐level) parent education performed the worst. Semantic memory was best predicted by the referent measure of mother’s education >8th (B̂: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.42); however verbal memory was best predicted by mother’s education >8th grade (B̂: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.24) plus missing indicator (B̂: ‐0.24; 95% CI: ‐0.37, ‐0.10) and executive function by both mother’s (B̂: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.31) and father’s (B̂: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.28) >8th together.ConclusionThe preferable performance of parental education as >8th grade likely reflects historical education trends when KHANDLE participants’ parents were educated; whether preference for dichotomized measures over full categories reflects uncertainties in recall of parental education remains unclear.

Concordance in parent and offspring cortico-basal ganglia white matter connectivity varies by parental history of major depressive disorder and early parental care.

Social behavior is transmitted cross-generationally through coordinated behavior within attachment bonds. Parental depression and poor parental care are major risks for disruptions of such coordination and are associated with offspring’s psychopathology and interpersonal dysfunction. Given the key role of the cortico-basal ganglia (CBG) circuits in social communication, we examined similarities (concordance) of parent–offspring CBG white matter (WM) connections and how parental history of major depressive disorder (MDD) and early parental care moderate these similarities. We imaged 44 parent–offspring dyads and investigated WM connections between basal-ganglia seeds and selected regions in temporal cortex using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography. We found significant concordance in parent–offspring strength of CBG WM connections, moderated by parental lifetime-MDD and care. The results showed diminished neural concordance among dyads with a depressed parent and that better parental care predicted greater concordance, which also provided a protective buffer against attenuated concordance among dyads with a depressed parent. Our findings provide the first neurobiological evidence of concordance between parents-offspring in WM tracts and that concordance is diminished in families where parents have lifetime-MDD. This disruption may be a risk factor for intergenerational transmission of psychopathology. Findings emphasize the long-term role of early caregiving in shaping the neural concordance among at-risk and affected dyads.

Development and evaluation of the Parenting to Reduce Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (PaRCADS): assessment of parental concordance with guidelines for the prevention of child anxiety and depression.

BackgroundInvolving parents in the prevention of mental health problems in children is prudent given their fundamental role in supporting their child’s development. However, few measures encapsulate the range of risk and protective factors for child anxiety and depression that parents can potentially modify. The Parenting to Reduce Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (PaRCADS) was developed as a criterion-referenced measure to assess parenting against a set of evidence-based parenting guidelines for the prevention of child anxiety and depressive disorders.MethodsIn Study 1, 355 parents of children 8–11 years old across Australia completed the PaRCADS and measures of parenting, general family functioning, child anxiety and depressive symptoms, and parent and child health-related quality of life. Their children completed measures of parenting, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life. In Study 2, six subject-experts independently evaluated the PaRCADS items for item-objective congruence and item-relevance. Item analysis was conducted by examining item-total point-biserial correlation, difficulty index, B-index, and expert-rated content validity indices. Reliability (or dependability) was assessed by agreement coefficients for single administration. Construct validity was examined by correlational analyses with other measures.ResultsFour items were removed to yield a 79-item, 10-subscale PaRCADS. Reliability estimates for the subscale and total score range from .74 to .94. Convergent validity was indicated by moderate to strong correlations with other parenting and family functioning measures, and discriminant validity was supported by small to moderate correlations with a measure of parents’ health-related quality of life. Higher scores on the PaRCADS were associated with fewer anxiety and depressive symptoms and better health-related quality of life in the child. PaRCADS total score was associated with parental age, parent reported child’s history of mental health diagnosis and child’s current mental health problem.DiscussionResults showed that the PaRCADS demonstrates adequate psychometric properties that provide initial support for its use as a measure of parenting risk and protective factors for child anxiety and depression. The scale may be used for intervention and evaluative purposes in preventive programs and research.

Concordance of Child and Parent Reports of Children's Screen Media Use

ObjectiveLittle is known about the concordance of parent and child reports of children's media consumption, even though parents are often asked to report for their children in clinical care settings. Our objective was to understand how parent and child reports of children's media consumption differ in an era of changing screen media consumption via personal devices. MethodsAs part of a larger study about the reception of health-related cues from children's media, children ages 9 to 11 years (N = 114) and their parents independently completed identical questionnaires about specific media use and health behaviors. To examine concordance between child and parent reports of children's screen media use, we calculated the mean number of minutes per day and proportions reported by the child and parent and assessed concordance with t-tests and chi-square tests. ResultsOn a typical day, children reported nearly an hour each of video and app game use, computer use, and television exposure. Overall, child and parent reports were similar, usually within 10 minutes of each other; however, among 3 measures of TV use, parents consistently reported less TV exposure than children. There was significant discordance in the percentages of parents and children reporting the presence of a TV in the child's room. ConclusionsParent and child reports of children's media use were generally concordant; however, there were important disagreements, such as TV use in the child's room and during meals. We discuss possible causes of discrepancies and implications.

Fathers’ and Mothers’ Early Mind-Mindedness Predicts Social Competence and Behavior Problems in Childhood

Parental mind-mindedness, the parent’s propensity to treat the child as an intentional agent, has repeatedly shown to promote children’s development of social understanding and secure attachment. Less is known about whether the impact of maternal and paternal mind-mindedness extends to children’s social and behavior problems. We investigated the combined effect of mothers’ and fathers’ (N = 104) mind-mindedness at 4, 12, and 30 months on children’s social competence and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at 4.5 years. Besides, we examined the stability, continuity, parental concordance, and inter-parental differences in the use of mind-related comments. Appropriate mind-mindedness (i.e., correct interpretations of the child’s mental states) and nonattuned mind-mindedness (i.e., misinterpretations of the child’s mental states) were observed during parent-child free-play interactions. Social competence, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were assessed using both parents’ reports. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that, at 30 months, infrequent use of appropriate mind-related comments of both parents predicted children’s externalizing problems, while their frequent use of nonattuned comments predicted children’s low social competence. Furthermore, mothers’ frequent use of nonattuned comments at 12 and 30 months and fathers’ nonattuned comments at 30 months predicted children’s externalizing behavior. The findings suggest that both parents’ low use of mind-related comments, and frequent misinterpretations of their child’s mind, may act as risk factors for later social and behavior problems of their child.

Academic Expectations and Mental Health in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study Involving Parents' and Their Children's Perspectives

PurposeWe investigated parental academic expectations and their agreement with child expectations as predictors of offspring's mental health. We additionally analyzed whether these associations were moderated by parent–child relationship factors and whether similar associations were found when using aspirations as the predictor. MethodsDyads of parents and children (aged 13 years) in Sweden answered three annual surveys asking how far in education parents (or their children) expected to go (respondents' wave 1: N = 3,383, wave 2: N = 3,096, wave 3: N = 2,905). Children's mental health was measured using the internalizing and externalizing subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multilevel logistic models for repeated measures were built to analyze the associations between parental expectations or the concordance of parent and child expectations and child's high internalizing (>9) or externalizing (>11) score in waves 2 and 3. ResultsParental expectations lower than university were associated with an increased odds of offspring's high externalizing score (adjusted odds ratio: 1.49, 95% confidence interval: 1.11–2.01). The odds of high externalizing score were increased among adolescents when either the parent's or own expectations were lower than university compared with the situation where both expected a university education; there was a more than twofold increased odds when both had low expectations (odds ratio: 2.32, 95% confidence interval: 1.55–3.48). No significant associations were found with internalizing problems. There was some evidence of moderation according to democratic parenting. All associations were similar when considering academic aspirations. ConclusionsLow academic expectations among parents and their children may negatively impact on children's externalizing symptoms.

Parent and Teacher Concordance of Child Outcomes for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Cross-informant ratings of are considered gold standard for child behavioral assessment. To date, little work has examined informant ratings of adaptive functioning for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a large, diverse sample of youth with ASD, this study evaluated parent-teacher concordance of ratings of adaptive functioning and ASD-specific symptomatology across time. The impact of child clinical characteristics on concordance was also examined. Participants included 246 children, their caregivers and teachers. Parent-teacher concordance was variable but generally consistent across time. Concordance was significantly impacted by autism severity and child cognitive abilities. Findings inform the broader concordance literature and support the need to consider child clinical factors when assessing child functioning in samples of children with ASD.

The Parenting to Reduce Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Scale: Assessing parental concordance with parenting guidelines for the prevention of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders.

BackgroundDespite substantial evidence demonstrating numerous parental risk and protective factors for the development of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders, there is currently no single measure that assesses these parenting factors. To address this gap, we developed the Parenting to Reduce Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Scale (PRADAS) as a criterion-referenced measure of parental concordance with a set of evidence-based parenting guidelines for the prevention of adolescent depression and anxiety disorders. In this paper, we used a sample of Australian parents of adolescents to: (1) validate the PRADAS as a criterion-referenced measure; (2) examine parental concordance with the guidelines in the sample; and (3) examine correlates of parental concordance with the guidelines.MethodsSeven hundred eleven parents completed the PRADAS, as well as two established parenting measures, and parent-report measures of adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms. Six hundred sixty adolescent participants (aged 12–15) also completed the symptom measures. Concordance with the guidelines was assessed via nine subscale scores and a total score. Reliability of the scores was assessed with an estimate of the agreement coefficient, as well as 1-month test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was examined via correlations between the scale and two established parenting measures.ResultsOne proposed subscale was removed from the final version of the scale, resulting in a total of eight subscales. Reliability was high for the total score, and acceptable to high for seven of the eight subscales. One-month test-retest reliability was acceptable to high for the total score. Convergent validity was supported by moderate to high correlations with two established measures of parenting. Overall, rates of parental concordance with the guidelines were low in our sample. Higher scores were associated with being female and higher levels of parental education. Greater parental concordance with the guidelines was associated with fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescent participants.DiscussionThis initial validation study provides preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the PRADAS. The scale has potential for use in both clinical and research settings. It may be used to identify parents’ strengths and potential targets for intervention, and as an outcome measure in studies of preventive parenting interventions.

Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors: Parental Concern and Concordance Between Parent and Adolescent Reports

ObjectiveWe investigated which adolescent health risk behaviors are of concern to parents generally, according to adolescent age, gender, and in the context of perceived risk. We compared adolescent and parent reports of the presence of health-risk behaviors and factors predicting agreement. MethodsThree hundred adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (mean, 14.5 years; 52% female) who presenting for well care completed an electronic screening tool used to assess health-risk behaviors. Parents completed parallel measures of their child's behavior and parental concern. Adolescent and parent reports were compared using McNemar test. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine predictors of agreement. ResultsHigh parental concern was most commonly reported for screen time and diet. When parents identified their adolescent as at-risk, high parental concern was near universal for mental health but less commonly reported for substance use. There were no differences in parental concern according to adolescent gender. Parents of older adolescents expressed more concern regarding physical activity and alcohol. Compared with adolescents, parents were more likely to report risk regarding anxiety, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity, and less likely to report risk regarding screen time, sleep, and marijuana use. Younger adolescent age and higher family relationship quality were predictive of stronger parent-adolescent agreement. ConclusionsParents in well-care visits commonly have concerns about adolescent lifestyle behaviors. Although parents are more likely to report concern when they know about a behavior, parental concern is not always aligned with parental awareness of risk, particularly for substance use. Parent report of higher prevalence of some risk behaviors suggests their input might assist in risk identification.

Parent Concordance and Fathers' Persistence Through Pregnancy in a Prenatal Program Sample [32R

INTRODUCTION: Single parent households are common and their impact is greatest in underserved communities where racial and ethnic minorities primarily reside. Paternal parental involvement has been shown to improve a child's behavioral, social and mental health, while their absence fuels school dropout, incarceration, violence and drug involvement. This study describes a father's intention for involvement in the pregnancy and the baby's life across different couple types. METHODS: Data was collected from interviews with pregnant women enrolling in MAMAs, a prenatal care program at a Los Angeles County Health facility, from December 2013 to August 2016. During the intake visit, demographic information was collected, including maternal and paternal race/ethnicity, relationship status, as well as the expressed or assumed paternal intentions for involvement during pregnancy and in the baby's life. A Chi-Square test examined father's intentions to persist through the pregnancy and the child's life among couples of the same (concordant) and different (discordant) racial and ethnic backgrounds. RESULTS: Of the 3259 women interviewed, 87.2% (n=2841) stated the father of the baby intended to be involved during and after the pregnancy. In pregnancies with discordant parents (16.4%), the fathers were less likely to want to be involved than in pregnancies with concordant parents (Chi-Square =10.15, P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Intentions for paternal involvement during and after pregnancy differ significantly based on parental race and ethnic concordance. Children with discordant parents are at higher risk for absent fathers. Pregnant women with discordant partners may benefit from increased social support during prenatal care and throughout the child's life.

The Concordance of Parent and Child Immunization.

A substantial body of work has related survey-based parental vaccine hesitancy to noncompliant childhood immunization. However little attention has been paid to the connection between parents' own immunization behavior and the immunizations their children receive. Using the Oregon ALERT Immunization Information System, we identified adult caregiver-child pairs for children between 9 months and 17 years of age. The likelihood of adult-child concordance of influenza immunization per influenza season from 2010-2011 through 2014-2015 was assessed. The utility of adult immunization as a predictor was also assessed for other, noninfluenza recommended immunizations for children and adolescents. A total of 450 687 matched adult caregiver-child pairs were included in the study. The children of immunizing adults were 2.77 times more likely to also be immunized for seasonal influenza across all seasons (95% confidence interval, 2.74-2.79), with similar results applying within each season. Adult immunization status was also significantly associated with the likelihood of children and adolescents getting other noninfluenza immunizations, such as the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV). When adults improved their own behavior from nonimmunizing to immunizing across influenza seasons, their children if not immunized in the previous season were 5.44 times (95% confidence interval, 5.35-5.53) more likely to become immunized for influenza. Children's likelihood of following immunization recommendations is associated with the immunization behavior of their parents. Encouraging parental immunization is a potential tool for increasing children's immunization rates.

Parental Concordance Regarding Problems and Hopes for Seriously Ill Children: A Two-Year Cohort Study

ContextParents of a seriously ill child may have different concerns and hopes for their child, and these concerns and hopes may change over time. ObjectivesIn a mixed-method prospective cohort of parental dyads of children with serious illness, to describe the major problems and hopes perceived for their child, examine the degree of concordance between parents, and assess whether prevalence and concordance change over time. MethodsEighty-four parents (42 dyads) of seriously ill children reported the major problems and hopes for their children at baseline. Thirty-two parents (16 dyads) answered the same questions at 24 months. Problems and hopes were classified into nine domains. Observed concordance was calculated between parents on each domain. Data for parents of 11 children who died are reported separately. ResultsThe most common major problem and hope domains at baseline were physical body, quality of life, future health and well-being, and medical care. Parental dyads demonstrated a moderately high percentage of concordance (69%) regarding reported problem domains and a slightly lower percentage of concordance on hopes (61%), with higher concordance for more common domains. Domain prevalence and concordance changed considerably at 24 months. Parents of children who later died showed markedly different patterns of domain prevalence and more extreme patterns of concordance. ConclusionParents of children with serious illness may have different perspectives regarding major problems and hopes, and these perspectives change over time. Parents of sicker children are more likely to be in either complete agreement or disagreement regarding the problems and hopes they identify.

Concordance of Parent- and Child-Reported Physical Abuse Following Child Protective Services Investigation.

Knowledge about the concordance of parent- and child-reported child physical abuse is scarce, leaving researchers and practitioners with little guidance on the implications of selecting either informant. Drawing from a 2008-2009 sample of 11- to 17-year-olds ( N = 636) from Wave 1 of the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study first examined parent-child concordance in physical abuse reporting (Parent-Child Conflict Tactic Scale). Second, it applied multivariate regression analysis to relate parent-child agreement in physical abuse to parent-reported (Child Behavior Checklist) and child-reported (Youth Self Report) child behavioral problems. Results indicate low parent-child concordance of physical abuse (κ = .145). Coreporting of physical abuse was related to clinical-level parent-reported externalizing problems ([Formula: see text] = 64.57), whereas child-only reports of physical abuse were the only agreement category related to child-reported internalizing problems ( B = 4.17, p < .001). Attribution bias theory may further understanding of reporting concordance and its implications.

Concordance of parent-, teacher- and self-report ratings on the Conners 3 in adolescent survivors of cancer.

Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for attention problems. The objectives of this study were to assess concordance between parent-, teacher-, and self-report ratings on a measure of attention (Conners Rating Scales, 3rd ed.; Conners, 2008) in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer and to examine associations with a performance-based task. The Conners 3 was completed by 80 survivors of pediatric cancer (39 brain tumor, 41 acute lymphoblastic leukemia; ages 12–17; at least 1 year posttreatment; 51.3% male) as well as their parents and 1 teacher. In addition, survivors completed a continuous performance test. Parents and teachers demonstrated moderate agreement on most subscales; however, agreement was weaker than would be expected based on the normative sample. Agreement between self- and proxy ratings was more variable. The strongest associations for all raters were observed on the Learning Problems subscale. There were significant mean differences between parent and teacher ratings, with parents reporting more problems across subscales. Only self-ratings of Inattention were significantly associated with the continuous performance test (omission errors). Agreement across raters in assessment of attentional functioning in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer is modest. Findings support the need to obtain multiple ratings of behavior, including both proxy- and self-report, when assessing youth with cancer, particularly adolescents.

Concordance of adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination parental report with provider report in the National Immunization Survey-Teen (2008–2013)

ObjectivesTo examine the accuracy of parental report of HPV vaccination through examination of concordance, with healthcare provider vaccination report as the comparison. MethodsThe 2008–2013 National Immunization Survey (NIS)-Teen was used to examine accuracy of parent reports of HPV vaccination for their female daughters aged 13–17years, as compared with provider report of initiation and number of doses. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine associations related to concordance of parent and provider report. ResultsOf 51,746 adolescents, 84% concordance for HPV vaccine initiation and 70% concordance for number of doses was observed. Accuracy varied by race/ethnicity, region, time, and income. The parent report of number of doses was more likely to be accurate among parents of 13 and 14year old females than 17year olds. Accuracy of initiation and number of doses were lower among Hispanic and black adolescents compared to white parents. The odds of over-report was higher among minorities compared to whites, but the odds of underreport was also markedly higher in these groups compared to parents of white teens. Accuracy of parental vaccine report decreased across time. ConclusionsThese findings are important for healthcare providers who need to ascertain the vaccination status of young adults. Strengthening existing immunization registries to improve data sharing capabilities and record completeness could improve vaccination rates, while avoiding costs associated with over-vaccination.

Parent and Teacher Concordance on the Social Responsiveness Scale for Children with Autism.

There are inconsistent findings regarding parent and teacher agreement on behavioral ratings of their children with autism. One possible reason for this inconsistency is that studies have not taken autism severity into account. This study examined parent and teacher concordance of social behavior based on symptom severity for children with autism. Participants were 123 parent-teacher dyads who completed the Social Responsiveness Scale. Symptom severity was assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Results indicated that parent and teacher ratings were statistically significantly correlated at the beginning and end of the academic year, but only for severely affected children. Teacher report of social deficits was correlated with symptom severity as measured by the ADOS; parent report was not. These findings have implications for improving assessment procedures and parent-teacher collaboration.

Parent/Adolescent Weight Status Concordance and Parent Feeding Practices.

Previous studies have examined the independent influence of mother's weight status or child's weight status on parents' use of specific feeding practices (ie, food restriction, pressure-to-eat). However, studies have not examined the mutual influence of parents' and adolescents' weight status on parents' feeding practices. This study examines the relationship between parent and adolescent weight status concordance and discordance and parent feeding practices. Data from 2 linked population-based studies, Eating and Activity in Teens (EAT) 2010 and Families and Eating and Activity in Teens (F-EAT), were used for cross-sectional analysis. Parents (n = 3252; 63% female; mean age 42.6 years) and adolescents (n = 2153; 54% female; mean age 14.4 years) were socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse. Anthropometric assessments and surveys were completed at school by adolescents, and surveys were completed at home by parents. Parents used the highest levels of pressure-to-eat feeding practices when parents and adolescents were both nonoverweight compared with all other combinations of concordant and discordant parent/adolescent weight status categories. Additionally, parents used the highest levels of food restriction when parents and adolescents were both overweight/obese compared with all other combinations of concordant and discordant parent/adolescent weight status categories. Sensitivity analyses with 2-parent households revealed similar patterns. Results suggest that parents use feeding practices in response to both their adolescents' and their own weight status. Results may inform health care providers and public health interventionists about which parent/adolescent dyads are at highest risk for experiencing food restriction or pressure-to-eat parent feeding practices in the home environment and whom to target in interventions.