Members of the ARCH Lab recently published a paper titled “Psychometric properties and informant agreement of the WHODAS 2.0 in youth with mental disorder” in the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The purpose of this paper was to examine the psychometric properties, parent-youth agreement, and factors associated with agreement on the 12-item and 36-item versions of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0.

Authors, using data from completed study “Multimorbidity in Youth Receiving Mental Health Services” found the psychometric properties of both WHODAS 2.0 versions were similar, so the abbreviated version may be sufficient to measure functional impairment in a clinical context. Parent-child agreement, however, was low.

Additional research is needed to better understand the factors that influence discrepancies between informants and the implications for care. However, reports from both youth and parents appear valuable in understanding functional impairment.