Levels of agreement between youth in out‐of‐home care and key adults' ratings of sibling and peer relationships: The impact of respondent characteristics and associations to youth resilience

Abstract

The current study utilized survey data to determine if respondent characteristics and inter-rater agreement on measures of important relationships were associated with resilience among child welfare-involved youth. Youth and key adults (e.g., caregivers or caseworkers) each completed a multidimensional survey of youth well-being. Both responded to measures of sibling and peer relationships; youth also completed a brief resilience measure. Inter-rater agreement for sibling and peer relationship constructs were established through independent samples t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Cronbach's kappa and double-entry intraclass correlation coefficient.Linear regression models then examined associations of respondent and dyad characteristics to inter-rater disagreement, and inter-rater disagreement to youth reported resilience. Post hoc analyses probed interactions for respondent characteristics and inter-rater disagreement to youth resilience. Results indicate key adults overestimated the quality of youth's sibling relationships, and inter-rater disagreement was highest when the youth was older and the adult was a caregiver.Sibling rater disagreement was associated with higher youth reported resilience. For peer relationships, significant inter-rater disagreement was not observed. Higher relative disagreement, however, was associated with lower youth resilience. Findings suggest levels of inter-rater agreement may be an important consideration when assessing the well-being of youth in out-of-home care.