CONCORDANCE OF CHILD MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT BETWEEN MOTHERS LIVING WITH HIV AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN FROM THE PACT STUDY COHORT

This study investigates concordance between children’s self-reports and maternal perceptions of their child’s mental health in families with mothers living with HIV, utilizing baseline data from the Parents and Children Coping Together (PACT) study cohort. The study aims to assess the extent of overlap between mother and child reports, while also examining whether different types of symptoms (anxiety or depression) yield varying degrees of concordance. Concordance, or agreement between informants, is crucial for accurately understanding children’s mental health. Factors such as the type of symptom assessed, maternal stressors, and the child’s age and sex have been previously found to impact concordance. Secondary data analysis was performed on the PACT data from 135 mother-child dyads, assessing children’s anxiety and depression symptoms using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Pearson, intraclass, and canonical correlations were conducted to explore the relationships between mother and child reports. The results indicated low agreement between mother and child reports, particularly for anxiety-related symptoms, while some concordance was observed for depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the need for family-based interventions to enhance communication and symptom recognition within families affected by maternal HIV and suggest further research into factors contributing to these discrepancies.