Multi-informant reports of psychiatric symptoms among high-functioning adolescents with Asperger syndrome or autism.

Hurtig et al. (2009) asked three people to rate the same teens. They gathered reports from the teens themselves, their parents, and their teachers. All teens had Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism and IQs in the average range.

The team used standard checklists to count anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric symptoms. They wanted to see if the three views matched or missed anything.

Teens and teachers flagged high levels of anxiety and depression. Parents scored these problems lower and often missed them.

The gap was largest for internalizing symptoms—worry, sadness, and withdrawal—that hide inside the teen.

Heald et al. (2020) ran a direct replication and found the same pattern: parents still under-reported anxiety and depression next to teen and teacher voices. The numbers line up almost perfectly, so the finding is solid.

Noordenbos et al. (2012) narrowed the lens to anxiety only. They also saw teens under-report compared with parents and clinicians, backing the main message: collect more than one rater.

Ozsivadjian et al. (2014) seems to disagree at first glance—it claims good parent-teen agreement. Their kids were younger, ages 8–14, and the study looked at whether kids could fill out forms, not at who scored higher. Once you see the age and focus gap, the papers fit together: young kids can answer, but teens still show the parent-teen gap found here.

If you only use parent CBCL scores, you can miss clinically significant anxiety or depression in bright autistic teens. Add the Youth Self-Report and Teacher Report Form to your intake packet. Two extra forms take ten minutes and give you the full picture.