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Kalmijn M. Discrepancies in parents' perceptions of adult children's well-being: evidence from mother-father-child triads. JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 2024; 30:838-860. [PMID: 39319027 PMCID: PMC11418899 DOI: 10.1080/13229400.2024.2335493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 09/26/2024]
Abstract
Most studies of discrepancies in parents' reports about children's psychological problems address younger children and psychological problems. The current contribution shifts the focus to adult children and to well-being. In adult intergenerational relationships, knowledge of children's well-being is more uncertain and there is more room for disagreements to arise, especially in the context of divorce. We analyzed Dutch multi-actor survey data, using a sample of triads of adult children, fathers, and mothers (N = 1,440). Two hypotheses were tested about the origins of discrepancies using structural equation models in which child well-being reports were included of parents and self-reports of children. The analyses supported the notion of relational specificity: when parents have a closer and more harmonious relationship with the child, they evaluate the child more positively than the other parent, after controlling for adult children's self-reports of well-being. Qualified support was obtained for the depression-distortion hypothesis, with mothers who have higher well-being themselves being more positive about the child. Discrepancies were larger among separated parents than among married parents and parent-stepparent combinations. The conclusion is that parents do not always have similar views of adult children's well-being and that disagreements are systematic, with bias stemming from the informant and the relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthijs Kalmijn
- Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)-KNAW/University of Groningen, The Hague, Netherlands
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Flourishing reflects positive mental health and thriving and is important for children's development and well-being. Few national studies of flourishing among school-aged children exist. Exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage is negatively associated with social and health outcomes, including flourishing. This analysis describes independent associations of the child, family, school, and neighborhood factors with flourishing, which we hypothesized may contribute to sociodemographic disparities. METHODS Data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health were used to examine parental perception of flourishing among school-aged children (6-17 years of age; n = 59,362). Flourishing was defined as curiosity about learning, resilience, and self-regulation. Unadjusted and adjusted associations between sociodemographic, child, family, school and neighborhood factors and flourishing were explored using χ tests and sequential logistic regression models. RESULTS Overall, 48.4% of school-aged children were perceived by parents to be flourishing. There were significant sociodemographic disparities with non-Hispanic black children (37.4%) and those below the federal poverty level (37.9%) among the least likely to flourish. After adjustment, sex, race/ethnicity, parent education, child's age, physical activity, special health care needs status, adequate sleep, adverse childhood experiences, family meals, hours of television watched, extracurricular activities, school safety, neighborhood safety, neighborhood support, and presence of amenities were significantly associated with flourishing (p < 0.05). Disparities by poverty level and household structure were no longer significant. CONCLUSION Addressing factors associated with parent-perceived flourishing including child, family, school and neighborhood factors such as physical activity, adequate sleep, and school/neighborhood safety may promote flourishing and reduce disparities.
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Robinson M, Doherty DA, Cannon J, Hickey M, Rosenthal SL, Marino JL, Skinner SR. Comparing adolescent and parent reports of externalizing problems: A longitudinal population-based study. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 37:247-268. [PMID: 30394545 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Revised: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Adolescent and parent reports of adolescent mental health problems often correlate poorly, and understanding this discrepancy has clinical importance. Yet contextual factors have only been inconsistently explained. At the 14- and 17-year follow-ups of the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, 1,596 parent-child dyads completed the parent-reported Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and the adolescent-rated Youth Self-Report (YSR). Maternal, family, adolescent, and parent factors were examined as potential predictors of discrepancies. When adolescent YSR scores were in the clinical range but parents' CBCL ratings were not, adolescents were more likely to report alcohol intoxication in the last 6 months, illicit drug use, low school motivation, and depression. When parents reported externalizing behaviour in the clinical range but adolescents did not, the characteristics associated with this were a younger maternal age, receiving social security benefit, stress related to parenting, depression, and poor family functioning. These new results will inform clinical management and research with adolescents who present with behavioural disorders. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? We know that adolescent and parent reports of adolescent mental health problems often correlate poorly, but little is known about which contextual factors lead to disagreement. Understanding the factors that influence agreement is clinically relevant for predicting and identifying externalizing behavioural disorders. This is a large-scale study with the ability to assess the impact of numerous psychosocial factors on instrument disagreement. What the present study adds We found that substance use, depression and low school motivation impacted on discrepancy in externalizing behaviour scores for 14-year-old male adolescents and their parents. Parental depression, stress, low family income, and family dysfunction also led to a higher likelihood of discrepancy in scores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique Robinson
- Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Dorota A Doherty
- School of Women's and Infants' Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.,Women and Infants Research Foundation, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jeffrey Cannon
- Women and Infants Research Foundation, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Martha Hickey
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne and Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Susan L Rosenthal
- Department of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center and Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, New York, USA
| | - Jennifer L Marino
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne and Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - S Rachel Skinner
- Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Chesmore AA, He Y, Zhang N, Gewirtz AH. Parent Discrepancies in Ratings of Child Behaviors Following Wartime Deployment. J Trauma Stress 2018; 31:79-88. [PMID: 29405467 PMCID: PMC5842121 DOI: 10.1002/jts.22257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2016] [Revised: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 10/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Researchers have shown that parents often disagree in their ratings of their children's behavior, and that these discrepancies are typically related to child and family characteristics (e.g., child's age, parent psychopathology). Few studies, however, have examined discrepancies in how mothers and fathers rate child behavior during a stressful family context such as a parent's wartime deployment. The present study of 174 military families (children aged 6 to 11 years; 54.0% female) examined whether family factors (parental sense of control, marital satisfaction) and contextual risk factors related to a parent's wartime deployment (number and length of deployments, battle experiences, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms) were associated with discrepancies in how mothers and fathers rated internalizing and externalizing behaviors in their children. Using a latent congruency model, our results showed that when parents self-reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms, both mothers, β = -.33, p = .021, and fathers, β = .41, p = .026, tended to also report higher levels of internalizing symptoms in their child, relative to what their spouse reported. In comparison to mothers, fathers also tended to report higher levels of child externalizing symptoms, β = .44, p = .019. Our findings may help clinicians understand how parent mental health within a stressful family context relates and/or informs a parent's ratings on assessments of his or her child's internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley A. Chesmore
- Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota
| | - Yaliu He
- Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota
| | - Na Zhang
- Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota
| | - Abigail H. Gewirtz
- Department of Family Social Science and Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
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van der Veen-Mulders L, Nauta MH, Timmerman ME, van den Hoofdakker BJ, Hoekstra PJ. Predictors of discrepancies between fathers and mothers in rating behaviors of preschool children with and without ADHD. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2017; 26:365-376. [PMID: 27578230 PMCID: PMC5323464 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-016-0897-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To examine child factors and parental characteristics as predictors of discrepancies between parents' ratings of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in a sample of preschool children with ADHD and behavior problems and in a nonclinical sample. We investigated correspondence and discrepancies between parents' ratings on the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems broadband scales of the Child Behavior Checklist version for preschool children (CBCL/1.5-5). Parents of 152 preschool children, with ADHD and behavior problems (n = 72) and nonclinical children (n = 80), aged between 28 and 72 months (M = 47.26, SD = 12.7), completed the CBCL/1.5-5. Candidate predictors of discrepancy included the child's age and sex, and parents' levels of parenting stress, depressive mood, attention-deficit and disruptive behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. Correspondence between parents, both for ratings on internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, was high (r = .63-.77). In the clinical sample, mothers rated the severity of externalizing behavior problems significantly higher than did fathers (p = < .001). Discrepancy between fathers and mothers on externalizing behavior problems was not predicted by child factors or interparental differences in psychopathology, but it was predicted by interparental differences in parenting stress (R 2 = .25, p < .001). This effect was significantly larger in the nonclinical sample (ΔR 2 = .06, p < .001). When parents disagree on the severity level of preschool children's externalizing behavior problems, the clinician should take into consideration that differences in parenting stress might be involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lianne van der Veen-Mulders
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 660, 9700 AR, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Maaike H Nauta
- University of Groningen, Department of Clinical Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marieke E Timmerman
- University of Groningen, Department of Clinical Psychology, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Barbara J van den Hoofdakker
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 660, 9700 AR, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Pieter J Hoekstra
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 660, 9700 AR, Groningen, The Netherlands
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Fuchs A, Möhler E, Reck C, Resch F, Kaess M. The Early Mother-to-Child Bond and Its Unique Prospective Contribution to Child Behavior Evaluated by Mothers and Teachers. Psychopathology 2016; 49:211-216. [PMID: 27383771 DOI: 10.1159/000445439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Maternal bonding has been described as the quality of the affective tie from a mother to her infant. This early bond's mental components and its longitudinal impact on child outcome have been markedly understudied. Although most researchers assume impaired maternal bonding to have a negative impact on child development, there is a lack of prospective studies evaluating this hypothesis. Since maternal mental health problems may negatively affect both bonding quality and child development, it is still to be determined whether there is a unique contribution of bonding quality to child behavior problems over and above maternal psychopathology. We examined a community sample of 101 mother-child dyads at the child's age of 2 weeks (t1) and 6 weeks (t2), 4 months (t3), 14 months (t4), and 5.5 years (t5). Maternal bonding and psychopathology were assessed at time points t1-t4 using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ-16) and the Symptom Checklist Revised (SCL 90-R). Child behavior problems were rated in a multi-informant design by mothers and teachers at t5 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In the case of maternal judgment of child behavior problems, bonding at 14 months (t4) proved to be a significant predictor (β = 0.30; p = 0.011). Teacher-rated child behavior problems were significantly predicted by maternal bonding at 2 weeks (t1; β = 0.48; p = 0.025). Our results indicate a prospective influence of the early mother-infant bond on child development and underline the unique contribution of bonding quality to child behavior problems over and above the impact of maternal psychopathology in a community sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Fuchs
- Section for Translational Psychobiology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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The Role of Fathers’ Depressive Symptoms and Lax and Over-Reactive Discipline in Children’s Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors. JOURNAL OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10804-012-9145-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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Foran-Tuller K, O’Hea EL, Moon S, Miller SJ. Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Children of Mothers Diagnosed with Breast Cancer. J Psychosoc Oncol 2012; 30:41-56. [DOI: 10.1080/07347332.2011.633979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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Ordway MR. Depressed mothers as informants on child behavior: methodological issues. Res Nurs Health 2011; 34:520-32. [PMID: 21964958 DOI: 10.1002/nur.20463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/02/2011] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Mothers with depressive symptoms more frequently report behavioral problems among their children than non-depressed mothers leading to a debate regarding the accuracy of depressed mothers as informants of children's behavior. The purpose of this integrative review was to identify methodological challenges in research related to the debate. Data were extracted from 43 articles (6 theoretical, 36 research reports, and 1 instrument scoring manual). The analysis focused on the methodologies considered when using depressed mothers as informants. Nine key themes were identified and I concluded that researchers should incorporate multiple informants, identify the characteristics of maternal depression, and incorporate advanced statistical methodology. The use of a conceptual framework to understand informant discrepancies within child behavior evaluations is suggested for future research.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Parenting stress is associated with negative parenting practices, which have been linked to increased youth health risk behaviors. It is important, therefore, to understand the most salient contributors to parenting stress in families who live in communities considered at high risk of the development of youth problem behaviors. OBJECTIVE On the basis of a model derived from the model of parenting stress of R. R. Abidin (1995), the contributions to parenting stress of child factors (age, social skills, and problem behaviors), parent factors (gender, health, and race or ethnicity), and contextual factors (family structure, conflict, social support, education, and income) were explored. METHODS A secondary data analysis using bivariate correlations and multiple and hierarchical regression was conducted to identify the relative influence of these factors on parenting stress in a national sample of 824 parents (primarily mothers, those from racial or ethnic minorities, and those who have low income) of adolescents aged 10-18 years. RESULTS Analyses indicated strong associations between child behavior and parenting stress (p < .001). There was a positive association between youth age and parenting stress. Single parents and parents in poor health reported significantly high levels of parenting stress; families with high levels of involvement and cohesion reported significantly less stress. The data support the multivariate model of parenting stress of R. R. Abidin (1995). DISCUSSION Parents of adolescents experience a high level of parenting stress that can compromise their ability to parent effectively. Identification of child, parent, and contextual characteristics that are associated with parenting stress may facilitate our understanding of how healthcare, social service, and education providers can prepare and support parents to reduce the risk of problem behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lori S Anderson
- School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792-2455, USA.
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Georgiou SN. Parental style and child bullying and victimization experiences at school. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION 2008. [DOI: 10.1007/s11218-007-9048-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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