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Observational Study
. 2018 Aug;46(6):1147-1159.
doi: 10.1007/s10802-017-0381-7.

In the Eye of the Beholder? Parent-Observer Discrepancies in Parenting and Child Disruptive Behavior Assessments

Martine A Moens  1 , Joyce Weeland  2 , Danielle Van der Giessen  2 , Rabia R Chhangur  2 , Geertjan Overbeek  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

In the Eye of the Beholder? Parent-Observer Discrepancies in Parenting and Child Disruptive Behavior Assessments

Martine A Moens et al. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

This study examined parent-observer discrepancies in assessments of negative child behavior and negative parenting behavior to shed more light on correlates with these discrepancies. Specifically, we hypothesized that informant discrepancy between observers and parents on child behavior would be larger when parents reported high levels of negative parenting (and vice versa) because high levels of these behaviors might be indicators of negative perceiver bias or patterns of family dysfunctioning. Using restricted correlated trait-models, we analyzed cross-sectional observation (coded with the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System) and survey data (Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory and Parenting Practices Interview) of 386 Dutch parent-child dyads with children aged 4-8 years (Mage = 6.21, SD = 1.33; 55.30% boys). Small associations between parent-reported and observed child and parenting behavior were found, indicating high discrepancy. In line with our hypothesis, this discrepancy was higher when parents self-reported more negative parenting or more negative child behavior. Parent-observer discrepancy on negative child behavior was also predicted by child gender. For boys parents reported higher levels of negative child behavior than were observed, but for girls parents reported lower levels of negative child behavior than were observed. These findings suggest that informant discrepancies between observers and parents might provide important information on underlying, problematic family functioning and may help to identify those families most in need of help.

Keywords: Childhood; Externalizing problems; Multi-informant discrepancies; Parenting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Martine Moens, Joyce Weeland, Danielle Van der Giessen, Rabia Chhangur and Geertjan Overbeek declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Negative child behavior restricted CT–C(M–1) model with standardized estimates
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Illustration of observer and parent-reported Z-scores of negative child behavior for families where parents report high (i.e., above median) negative parenting
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Negative parenting restricted CT–C(M–1) model with standardized estimates
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Illustration of observer and parent-reported Z-scores of negative parenting behavior for families where parents report high (i.e., above median) negative child behavior
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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