Informant Discrepancies in Assessing Child Dysfunction Relate to Dysfunction Within Mother-Child Interactions

Abstract

Examined whether mother-child discrepancies in perceived child behavior problems relate to dysfunctional interactions between mother and child and stress in the mother. Participants included 239 children (6-16 years old; 58 girls, 181 boys) referred for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior, and their mothers. Mother-child discrepancies in perceived child behavior problems were related to mother-child conflict. Moreover, maternal stress mediated this relationship. The findings suggest that discrepancies among mother and child evaluations of child functioning are not merely reflections of different perspectives or artifacts of the assessment process, but can form components of conceptual models that can be developed and tested to examine the interrelations among critical domains of child, parent, and family functioning. Keywordsattribution bias context; disagreement; discrepancies; stress; conflict Parents, teachers, children, and clinicians are often discrepant in how they perceive and rate the child's social, emotional, and behavioral problems (e.g., Achenbach, McConaughy, & Howell, 1987;De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005;Grills & Ollendick, 2002). Discrepancies among informants' ratings, especially those between mothers and children, have been studied extensively to examine correlates of the discrepancies, whether discrepancies are more likely with some disorders rather than others, and whether data from some informants (e.g., mother vs. child) are more useful for some disorders or purposes than others (see De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005, for a review).Discrepancies among informants' ratings are often considered as both a clinical reality and methodological nuisance. The clinical reality refers to the fact that informants' perceptions of children's functioning are more often than not disparate from one another, and their ratings simply will differ, even when the same measure (e.g., identical rating scale) is used. The methodological nuisance refers to the fact that clinicians and researchers can obtain quite different results in either a clinical evaluation or research, based on whose views (mother's, child's, teacher's) are assessed, or whether one or all are used to characterize the child. For example, in a given sample, different children will be identified as meeting criteria for a disorder, depending on whose ratings are used or whether informants' ratings are combined (e.g., Kazdin, 1989;Offord et al., 1996; Youngstrom, Findling, & Calabrese, 3 Correspondence regarding this manuscript should be addressed to Alan E. Kazdin, Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 S. Frontage Road, New Haven, CT 06520-7900, alan.kazdin@yale.edu. Note: This paper was forwarded on August 29, 2005, and is not the final version of this article. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 January 13. . Similarly, the extent to which individuals improve with treatment and whether one treatment is more effective than another can vary as a function ...

Economic Hardship, Parent Positive Communication and Mental Health in Urban Adolescents Seeking Outpatient Psychiatric Care

“…Youth-reported symptoms were not associated with SES or with parent positive communication. Prior research indicates that discrepancies in parent and child reports of youth problems are associated with more parent-child conflict and maternal stress (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2006). The lack of associations with youth reports may be characteristic of families of treatment-seeking youth, who may have larger discrepancies between parent and child perceptions of youth problems, and who experience higher levels of parent-child conflict and parental stress (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2006).…”

“…Prior research indicates that discrepancies in parent and child reports of youth problems are associated with more parent-child conflict and maternal stress (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2006). The lack of associations with youth reports may be characteristic of families of treatment-seeking youth, who may have larger discrepancies between parent and child perceptions of youth problems, and who experience higher levels of parent-child conflict and parental stress (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2006). Thus, it may be especially important for future studies to examine (and account for) discrepancies between parent and child reports to understand relationships between SES, family processes, and mental health for youth seeking treatment.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue: Discrepancies in Adolescent–Parent Perceptions of the Family and Adolescent Adjustment

“…In light of this work, it is important to consider the importance of understanding and interpreting points of convergence and divergence between adolescents' and parents' reports of family functioning. To begin, consider that when adolescents and parents provide researchers with reports about family functioning domains (e.g., conflict, parenting, relationship quality), they are providing their impressions of features of their lives that may matter a great deal to them (see also De Los Reyes 2011;De Los Reyes and Kazdin 2006a). Thus, patterns of convergence and divergence between adolescents' and parents' reports of such functioning may reflect important aspects of their interactions and how they relate to one another (De Los Reyes et al 2013c;Goodman et al 2010).…”

Comparing Multi-Informant Assessment Measures of Parental Monitoring and Their Links With Adolescent Delinquent Behavior

“…Specifically, these changes may be adaptive in that they potentially contribute to adolescent development of autonomy from the family (Zimmer-Gembeck & Collins, 2003). In contrast, low correspondence between parent and adolescent reports of parental monitoring behaviors and parental knowledge may be indicative of increased parent-adolescent conflict or dysfunction within the family (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2006). Although prior theoretical work has sought to conceptualize the reasons why informants disagree in their reports of parental monitoring behaviors and parental knowledge, little is known about whether the selection of informants to provide reports of parental monitoring behaviors and parental knowledge has implications for detecting links between such constructs and adolescent delinquent behavior.…”