Psychol Assess. 2026 Jul 20. doi: 10.1037/pas0001476. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Multi-informant assessments are considered the gold standard in the assessment of youth psychopathology. Although best practice dictates that this approach should extend to the assessment of youth involved in the justice system, few studies have examined the effect of multiple informants in a forensic context. Using a sample of 580 youth-caregiver dyads, we conducted a series of polynomial regressions to test whether statistical interactions between scores on the Youth Self-Report and scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (completed by caregivers) predicted psychiatric diagnoses. Psychiatric diagnoses were coded from the youth’s final forensic assessment report and included anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A significant interaction was found when modeling the effect of youth-caregiver reports of rule-breaking behavior on receiving a conduct disorder diagnosis, and when modeling the effect of youth-caregiver reports of aggressive behavior on receiving an attention-deficit hyperactivity diagnosis. No significant interactions were found when modeling the effect of youth-caregiver reports of internalizing symptomology on receiving an anxiety or depressive disorder diagnosis. Results suggest that youth and caregiver reports are integrated differently depending on whether the clinician is making an internalizing or externalizing spectrum diagnosis. Study implications for forensic assessments with multiple informants are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
PMID:42475031 | DOI:10.1037/pas0001476
