Parent and child views of parent-child relationship qualities and resilient outcomes among urban children

Abstract

Separate in-depth interviews were conducted with two groups of highly stressed 4th-6th grade urban children classified as stress-affected (SA) and stress-resilient (SR), and their parents. Judges identified interview items reflecting three components of a good parent-child relationship, i.e. positive parental attitudes, involvement and guidance. SR parents and children scored higher than their SA counterparts on all three relational dimensions. Additionally, SR parent-child dyads had more congruent views of their relationship than SA dyads. These findings suggest that positive parent-child relationship qualities play an important protective role that favors resilient outcomes, at ages 10-12, among children who have experienced major life stress.