Abusive Parents' Reports of Child Behavior Problems: Relationship to Observed Parent-Child Interactions

• NCJ Number: 214889
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 30 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 639-655
• Author(s): Anna S. Lau; Sylvia M. Valeri; Carolyn A. McCarty; John R. Weisz
• Date Published: June 2006
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 MH49522; R01 MH57347; K05 MH01161
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Based on independent observations and standardized coding of child-parent interactions, this study assessed whether abusive parents' reports exaggerated the severity and frequency of their child's problem behaviors.

Abstract

Consistent with findings from community studies, abusive parents reported higher levels of problematic acting-out behavior by their children compared to the nonabusive comparison group of parents; however, there was no significant difference in parent groups' reports of their children's internalizing problems (social withdrawal, physical complaints, and anxious/depressed behaviors). In observed parent-child interactions, abusive parents differed from nonabusive parents in their levels of supportive and emotionally controlling behaviors, but they were not significantly different in terms of hostility, detachment, and positive affection. A comparison of parent reports of children's problem behaviors with observation of child-parent interactions showed that abusive parents were more likely than nonabusive parents to exaggerate the extent of their children's acting-out problem behaviors. This suggests that assessments of child behaviors within abusive parent-child interactions should rely on multiple sources of information and observations. The study sample consisted of 205 youth (ages 7-17) and their parents who had been referred to 1 of 5 outpatient community mental health clinics in the greater Los Angeles area between 1991 and 1999. Fifty-eight youth had experienced physical abuse; and of these, 31 also had documented histories of neglect, 13 had documented sexual abuse, and 25 had documented emotional abuse. The racially diverse sample included 131 boys and 74 girls; parents included 187 women caregivers and 18 men caregivers. Parent-child pairs participated together in three interaction tasks: a teaching task, a planning task, and a conflict task. The coding for the observations addressed both behavioral and verbal interactions between the parent and child. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 60 references