Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2025
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
BreAnne Danzi
Abstract
Collecting parent-report and child-report information is the gold standard in assessing child mental health. Yet, parent-report and child-report of the child’s symptoms frequently do not align. Parent-child concordance can impact a child's mental health and trauma response. Discordance between the parent and child is associated with increased psychosocial difficulties in the child. Additionally, parents' report of their child’s symptoms is often influenced by the parents’ own distressing symptoms. However, little is known about the relationship between how the parent perceives their child’s experience and how the child perceives their experience in the context of potentially traumatic medical experiences. In this study, we investigated the relationship between parent-report and child-report following surgical procedures in children and the impact parent-child agreement had on the child's psychological functioning. Additionally, we examined factors that predicted parent-child concordance and the impact of parent-child concordance on the child’s trauma response. Participants were 157 parent-child dyads recruited from pediatric organizations (i.e., clinics), community events, social media, and research registries. This study found that parent-child concordance following surgery varied widely by domain, with lower agreement in illness perception and quality of life, and higher agreement in mental health symptoms like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Factors such as child age, child and parent distress were associated with the degree of concordance, with younger age linked to greater agreement in depressive symptoms and higher distress associated with more discrepancies. Importantly, more negative parental illness perceptions and reduced concordance were associated with poorer child functioning, especially for depression and trauma-related symptoms.
Subject Categories
Clinical Psychology | Psychology
Keywords
higher agreement in mental health symptoms like anxiety, depression, and PTSD
Number of Pages
103
Publisher
University of South Dakota
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Jessy, "EXAMINING HOW CHILDREN AND PARENTS PERCEIVE CHILD MEDICAL PROCEDURES AND THE IMPACT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING" (2025). Dissertations and Theses. 357.
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/357