Cross-Informant Ratings of the Emotional and Behavioral Functioning of College Students

• NCJ Number: 221444
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 193-210
• Author(s): Kimberly Renk; Reesa Donnelly; Jenny Klein; Arazais Oliveros; Elizabeth Baksh
• Date Published: February 2008
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A total of 174 college students and a subset of their mothers and fathers provided ratings of the students' emotional and behavioral functioning, so as to determine the correspondence between these cross-informant ratings.

Abstract

The study found that college students and their mothers and fathers exhibited significant correspondence in their ratings of the students' emotional states; whereas, the students and only their mothers showed significant correspondence in the students' acting-out behaviors. In contrast, mothers and fathers showed significant correspondence in their ratings of students' emotional states and acting-out problem behaviors. The students rated themselves as experiencing significantly higher levels of behavioral problems than did their mothers and fathers. Further, college students' ratings of their mothers' and fathers' parenting and their perceptions of their parents significantly predicted their ratings of their own behavioral problems. These findings confirm the importance of cross-informant ratings in providing a thorough profile of any individual. The 53 men and 121 women were attending a southeastern suburban university. Their ages ranged from 18 to 25. The majority (70.7 percent) were White. Emotional and acting-out behaviors reported by the students were measured with the Adult Self-Report, and the parents used the Adult Behavior Checklist. The Parental Authority Questionnaire was used by the students to measure the usual parenting styles of their mothers and fathers. Students' views of their mothers and fathers were measured with the Perception of Parents Scale, and the parental version of the perception of Parents Scale-Parent Form measured mothers' and fathers' current perceptions of their sons and daughters in the study. Both students and parents were administered the Perception of Parental Reciprocity Scale as a measure of their communication reciprocity. 6 tables and 27 references