Parents' Judgements About Young Children's Problems: Why Mothers and Fathers Might Disagree Yet Still Predict Later Outcomes

Abstract

Correlates of parents' ratings of behavioural problems were explored in a sample of 93 British families, in which mothers and fathers rated their children at the time of the fourth birthday on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. As in other samples, there was moderate convergence in mothers' and fathers' total problem scores, but also signs that they were reporting different sorts of problems linked to different influences. The father's rating was primarily associated with the child's cognitive ability. The mother's rating was primarily affected by her own mental state and view of her marriage. The father's but not the mother's rating provided unique information that predicted teachers' reports of the children's problems 7 years later. In general, parents' ratings of preschool children's problems reflect particular informants' perspectives on family life.

Externalizing behavior trajectories: The role of parenting, sibling relationships and child personality

“…Previous findings suggested that parents' reports, although valuable, may be biased based upon personal factors (e.g., depression, Hay et al, 1999) and by past experiences with the child (Patterson, 1982), whereas an observational approach is thought to offer a-less biased-ecologically valid alternative. Also, whereas the SNAP paradigm assesses disruptive behavior in a highly specific context at a specific time, questionnaires such as the SCBE-30 provide global ratings of everyday behavior across a wide range of contexts and a large time frame.…”

Concordância parental sobre problemas de comportamento infantil através do CBCL

“…A hipótese para essa diferença é que elas convivem mais tempo com os filhos(as), estando mais expostas às situações em que o comportamento pode ser observado. Outra hipótese está relacionada às diferentes maneiras com que as crianças tendem a se comportar na presença dos pais ou das mães que, por sua vez, irão observar filhos(as) de maneira distinta (Hay, Sharp, Pawlby, & Schmücker, 1999). Este dado pode explicar, por exemplo, o fato das mães reportarem mais problemas de comportamento de suas crianças do que os pais (Duhig e cols., 2000).…”

Informant Discrepancies in the Assessment of Childhood Psychopathology: A Critical Review, Theoretical Framework, and Recommendations for Further Study.

“…1 Informant discrepancies have been found in virtually every method of clinical assessment that researchers and practitioners use to assess abnormal behavior in youths (e.g., rating scales, structured interviews; Achenbach et al, 1987;Grills & Ollendick, 2002). Moreover, discrepancies have been found in samples of informants encompassing diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Hay et al, 1999;Jensen et al, 1999;Kaufman, Swan, & Wood, 1980;Krenke & Kollmar, 1998;Rohde et al, 1999;Rousseau & Drapeau, 1998;Verhulst, Althaus, & Berden, 1987) and in virtually any clinic sample in which discrepancies have been examined (Edelbrock, Costello, Dulcan, Conover, & Kala, 1986;Frank, Van Egeren, Fortier, & Chase, 2000;Frick, Silverthorn, & Evans, 1994;Hart, Lahey, Loeber, & Hanson, 1994;Kazdin, French, & Unis, 1983;Rapee, Barrett, Dadds, & Evans, 1994).…”