Assessment of adult psychopathology: meta-analyses and implications of cross-informant correlations

Psychol Bull. 2005 May;131(3):361-82. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.3.361.

Abstract

Assessment of adult psychopathology relies heavily on self-reports. To determine how well self-reports agree with reports by "informants" who know the person being assessed, the authors examined 51,000 articles published over 10 years in 52 peer-reviewed journals for correlations between self-reports and "informants" reports. Qualifying correlations were found in 108 (0.2%) of the articles. When self-reports and informant reports were obtained with parallel instruments, mean cross-informant correlations were .681 for substance use, .428 for internalizing, and .438 for externalizing problems. When based on different instruments, the mean cross-informant correlation was .304. The moderate sizes of the correlations argue for systematically obtaining multi-informant data. National survey findings were used to illustrate practical ways to obtain and use such data.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Child
  • Data Collection / methods*
  • Data Collection / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mental Disorders / epidemiology
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Disorders / diagnosis
  • Personality Disorders / epidemiology
  • Personality Disorders / psychology
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / statistics & numerical data
  • Psychometrics
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires