Children's anxiety scales in relation to self, parental, and psychiatric ratings of anxiety.

The CMAS and the General Anxiety Scale for Children were administered to a group of pediatric and psychiatric outpatients and modified forms were given to the parents of the children. The psychiatric group was also given a clinical rating of anxiety and a check list rating of psychiatric symptoms. Significant positive interest correlations were found between the anxiety items, but not the lie items of the 2 scales. Moderate agreement was found between the children's self-ratings of anxiety and those done by their parents. Significant agreement was found between parents' ratings of their children's anxiety. The psychiatric group scored significantly higher on the CMAS than the pediatric group. The number of psychiatric symptoms was found to correlate positively with the anxiety scale scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring Informant Discrepancies in Clinical Child Research.

Discrepancies among informants' ratings of child psychopathology have important implications for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Typically, parents and children complete measures (e.g., self-report checklists, diagnostic instruments) to assess child dysfunction. Ratings gathered from these sources reveal relatively little agreement on the nature and extent of the child's social, emotional, and behavioral problems. This article reviews and illustrates the most frequently used methods of measuring informant discrepancies in the clinical child literature (i.e., raw difference, standardized difference, and residual difference scores) and outlines key considerations to influence their selection. The authors conclude that frequently used methods of measuring informant discrepancies are not interchangeable and recommend that future investigations examining informant discrepancies in clinical child research use the standardized difference score as their measure of informant discrepancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Informant Discrepancies in the Assessment of Childhood Psychopathology: A Critical Review, Theoretical Framework, and Recommendations for Further Study.

Discrepancies often exist among different informants' (e.g., parents, children, teachers) ratings of child psychopathology. Informant discrepancies have an impact on the assessment, classification, and treatment of childhood psychopathology. Empirical work has identified informant characteristics that may influence informant discrepancies. Limitations of previous work include inconsistent measurement of informant discrepancies and, perhaps most importantly, the absence of a theoretical framework to guide research. In this article, the authors present a theoretical framework (the Attribution Bias Context Model) to guide research and theory examining informant discrepancies in the clinic setting. Needed directions for future research and theory include theoretically driven attention to conceptualizing informant discrepancies across informant pairs (e.g., parent-teacher, mother-father, parent-child, teacher-child) as well as developing experimental approaches to decrease informant discrepancies in the clinic setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retrospective ratings of ADHD symptoms made at young adulthood by clinic-referred boys with ADHD-related problems, their brothers without ADHD, and control participants.

Retrospective childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are required to diagnosis adult ADHD, but the validity of self-rated symptoms across time is questionable. Here, boys with ADHD-related problems, their brothers without ADHD, and former schoolmates rated themselves during young adulthood for ages 9, 14, and 19. Brothers rated probands retrospectively at the same ages. The young adults referred as children for ADHD (a) acknowledged childhood symptoms; (b) described improvement over time; (c) did not differ from brothers or controls on most self-ratings of young adult symptoms; (d) rated themselves as more symptomatic at age 9, but less symptomatic at age 19, than their brothers rated them; and (e) agreed only to some degree with brothers' ratings of probands' aggression (median correlation = .22). Probands' ratings showed limited agreement with judges' symptom ratings (median correlation = .16) and young adult follow-up examiners' ratings (median correlation = .14). These findings are not accounted for solely by changes in informants, nor by the course of ADHD psychopathology. They suggest some stability but limited internal consistency and validity for retrospective ADHD ratings by probands and brothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis.

In light of the selective focus on maternal (vs. paternal) psychopathology as a risk factor for child development, this meta-analysis examines the relative strength of the association between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children. Associations were stronger between maternal than paternal psychopathology and the presence of internalizing (but not externalizing) problems in children, with all average effect sizes being small in magnitude. Relations were moderated by variables that highlight theoretically relevant differences between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers (e.g., age of children studied, type of parental psychopathology) and by variables related to methodological differences across studies (e.g., method of assessing psychopathology in parents and children, type of sample recruited, familial composition). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-Related Disagreements, Verbal Aggression, and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Dual-income parents (N = 122 couples) with an oldest child 18-60 months of age completed the Child-Rearing Disagreements Scale (E. N. Jouriles et al., 1991), the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2000), and the Verbal Aggression subscale of the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scale (P. K. Kerig, 1996). Replicating the results of E. N. Jouriles et al. (1991) and extending these findings to daughters and fathers, the authors found links between child-related disagreements and parental ratings of child behavior problems in this low-risk sample. There were no links between fathers' reports of verbal aggression and child behavior problems. Among mothers, however, use of verbal aggression mediated the link between child-related disagreements and ratings of sons' internalizing problems. Verbal aggression did not moderate the link between child-related disagreements and child behavior problems for either mothers or for fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Child Behavior Program on Television.

As several psychologists have reported their experiences in presenting psychological material to the public by means of TV, it seemed that readers might be interested in a child behavior program directed to parents which I have been giving weekly in Boston for the past two years. "Child Behavior" is a half-hour program, spontaneous and unrehearsed, sponsored as a public service by the Boston Globe and Station WBZ-TV. As a rule there are four guests--mothers, fathers, educators, social workers. These guests ask questions about any phase of the behavior of children from birth to 16 years, and the discussion, ranging over many topics, is based on child development research and a philosophy grounded in normal child growth. Public acceptance, at least by parents and teachers, appears to be excellent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interaction of parent and child gender in physical child maltreatment.

Assessed cross-generational patterns of physical child maltreatment taking the gender of both parents and child into consideration, and the experience of shame regarding one's own physically abusive behaviors. 1536 parents (mean age 47 yrs) and their 983 children (mean age 18 yrs) were administered the Conflict Tactics Scale (M. A. Straus, 1989) along with other questionnaires to gather information on aggressive behavior, shame experienced in abusing their children and demographic data. The parents were categorized as physically abusive or nonabusive if both parent and child ratings of the parents' behavior were in agreement. Results show that parents received more physical child maltreatment from their own same gender parent than from opposite gender parents. Among the abusive parents, the more maltreatment they received as children by the same gender parent, the less shame they felt for using such punishment on their own children. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identifying Factors that Relate to Children's Risk-Taking Decisions.

Identified factors related to risk decisions and examined risk-taking in the context of best-friend dyads. Children were individually shown drawings of play situations, with different risk-level paths depicted. They gave ratings of their experience with the activities, provided fun and danger ratings for all paths, indicated the path they would take and why, and answered questions about the choice their best friend would make, and the path each parent would want them to take. Subsequently, a peer-influence session was contrived in which their best friend attempted to persuade them to select another path. Then, children made their final path choices. Greater experience with an activity was associated with greater risk-taking. Perceptions of danger negatively correlated with risk-taking decisions. For boys, fun ratings positively correlated with risk-taking decisions. Girls selected paths consistent with what they believed their parents would favour. Best friends were highly similar in risk-taking. When differences emerged, best friends were successful about half the time in their persuasion efforts. Rate of success positively correlated with friendship quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child effects on communication between parents of youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Numerous studies indicate interparental conflict causes child externalizing behavior. However, far less is known about the inverse relationship. Exploring this gap in the literature has clear implications for parents of children with externalizing disorders (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]). Adapting an experimental child behavior manipulation paradigm (Lang, Pelham, Atkeson, & Murphy, 1999; Pelham et al., 1997, 1998), parent couples of 9- to 12-year-old boys and girls with ADHD (n = 51) and without ADHD (n = 39) were randomly assigned to interact with a “disruptive” or “typical” confederate child. According to parent and observer ratings, parents interacting with disruptive confederates communicated less positively and more negatively with each other during and after the interactions than did parents who interacted with typical confederates. Observational coding also indicated that child effects on negative interparental communication were more noticeable among parents of youth with ADHD, particularly those with comorbid oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder, compared with parents of youth without ADHD. These findings extend results of prospective studies highlighting child effects on marital quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self–other agreement in job performance ratings: A meta-analytic test of a process model.

This meta-analysis explores agreement in self- and supervisory ratings of job performance (k = 128 independent samples). It suggests a 3-stage model of the rating process and reviews the empirical evidence for the relevance of each of these 3 stages to an understanding of agreement in ratings. The proposed 3-stage model serves as the guiding rationale for the examination of an extensive set of variables that moderate rater agreement. Results are reported for 2 indicators of rater agreement (correlational and mean-level agreement). Self-supervisor ratings yielded an overall correlation of .22 (ρ = .34; k = 115; n = 37,752). Position characteristics and the use of nonjudgmental performance indicators were the main moderators. Leniency in self-ratings is indicated by higher mean levels of self-ratings compared with supervisory ratings. Within Western samples, performance self-ratings showed leniency (d = 0.32, Δ = .49; k = 89; n = 35,417) dependent on contextual features, scale format, and scale content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The link between parents' perceptions of the school and their responses to school bullying: Variation by child characteristics and the forms of victimization.

A growing number of researchers encourage parents to notify the school when their children are bullied and work collaboratively with the school to resolve the situation. However, there is limited research on factors that are associated with parents' responses to their child's victimization. Using data from an online survey of 773 parents of victimized students enrolled in 93 schools (elementary, middle, and high), the current study employed structural equation modeling to examine the association between parents' perceptions of the school's climate and parents' responses to their child's victimization. The results indicated that the more favorable parents' perceptions of the climate were, the less likely they were to contact their child's school or talk to their child in response to the victimization. The parents' perception of the climate and response choice also varied as a function of the child's age and the form of bullying experienced. These findings suggest that parents' perceptions of the school are associated with their responses to their child's victimization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self and parent ratings of executive functioning after adolescent traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To examine the level of agreement between adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their parents in standardized ratings of executive functioning, and to determine correlates of discrepancies between those ratings. Participants: Ninety-eight 11- to 16-year-old adolescents with TBI and their parents, and 97 neuropsychologically healthy controls. Method: Five-year consecutive series of rehabilitation referrals for TBI. Measures: Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function–Self Report (BRIEF–SR) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) parent report versions. Results: Self and parent ratings were moderately positively correlated in both the TBI group and the control group, but parents generally identified more executive dysfunction than did the adolescents. Parent-adolescent discrepancies were statistically significantly greater in the TBI group than in the control group on the Metacognitive index but not the Behavioral Regulation index. The degree of the former discrepancy was predicted by duration of coma in the TBI group. Conclusions: Adolescents with more severe TBI may underestimate their own degree of executive dysfunction in daily life, particularly aspects of metacognitive abilities, possibly, in part, because of an organic-based lack of deficit awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A self-report typology of behavioral adjustment for young children.

A large, national U.S. sample of children rated their own behavior and emotions using the Self-Report of Personality--Child version (SRP-C) of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (C. R. Reynolds & R. W. Kamphaus, 1992). Cluster analysis was used to group 4,981 self-reports (SRP-C) of children between the ages of 8 and 11 years. Theoretical and empirical considerations were used to identify a 10-cluster solution. Internal validation procedures revealed that the 10-cluster solution was well replicated by independently classifying 2 large subsamples of participants. External validation evidence revealed that only 2 of the 10 clusters could be differentiated by parent and teacher ratings of behavior problems. Peer ratings of social status and behavior, however, proved far better than adult ratings at differentiating the clusters. These findings suggest that the realm of intraindividual adjustment is not well understood by parents and teachers of these same children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes towards newscasters as measured by the semantic differential: A descriptive case.

How valuable is the semantic differential in measuring audience attitudes toward people they see on TV? An audience of 20 people made semantic differential ratings of 3 TV personalities and the TV program used in this study, and of a person they had watched elsewhere on TV, in a pretest, posttest and follow-up. "The postprogram ratings accurately predicted the follow-up ratings." The evidence favored the validity of the technique. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GD35K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attitudes associated with social deviance in preadolescent boys.

On the assumption that interpersonal behavior of children is a product of parental attitude, peer evaluations of dimensions of interpersonal behavior such as aggression, dependency, withdrawal, depression, and likeability were correlated with responses by parents on a specially devised attitude scale which yielded measures on such dimensions as ambivalence, strictness, punitiveness, encouragement of autonomy, model identity, and a measure of parental adjustment. Among the peer group ratings, likeability was negatively correlated with the other dimensions. The parental attitudes that correlated with boys judged by their peers to be socially deviant were: ambivalence, punitiveness, restrictiveness, and low maternal self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tearing the child apart: The contribution of narcissism, envy, and perverse modes of thought to child custody wars.

This article takes a psychoanalytic approach to questions usually considered to be matters of the family court system. The psychological effects of high-conflict divorce on children are well known, but what motivates their parents is less understood. Pathological narcissism, pathological envy, disavowal, and a perverse attitude toward reality can produce unending conflicts over visitation and custody. Fighting over seemingly insignificant matters can manage aggression and ward off psychic collapse. These families are frequently referred to coparenting counseling or psychoeducational groups; however, the author proposes that psychoanalytically oriented treatment can best address these parents' unconscious wishes to damage or destroy their own children and the perverse character structure that enables parents to negate their roles in tearing their children apart. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do places matter? Socioeconomic disadvantage and behavioral problems of children in Canada.

This study evaluated the influence of neighborhoods and socioeconomic disadvantage on behavioral problems rated by parents and teachers in a nationally representative sample of children ages 4 to 11 yrs living in Canada. Between-neighborhood variation accounted for 7.6% and 6.6% of parent and teacher ratings, respectively. About 25.0% of this neighborhood variation could be explained by socioeconomic variables evenly divided between neighborhood and family-level measures. Family socioeconomic status, lone-parent family status, and percentage of lone parents in neighborhoods were strong, reliable predictors of behavioral problems. Ratings were contextualized: Fewer behavioral problems were assessed in children from well-off families living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, whereas more problems were assessed in children from poor families living in advantaged neighborhoods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Erratum to Cascio and Valenzi.

Reports an error in the original article by Wayne F. Cascio and Enzo R. Valenzi (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1978, Vol. 63, No. 1, pp. 22-28). In the last sentence of the Results section of the article, the values are incorrect. The corrected values for line 33 of page 26 are provided. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1979-24955-001.) Job performance measures consisting of 35 objective indices and ratings on 8 behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) were available for 795 nonminority (mean age, 29.8 yrs) and 147 minority (mean age, 28.2 yrs) police officers. Eight of the 35 objective measures, plus age and job tenure, were used as predictors of the sum of the 8 BARS. Identical predictor sets validly forecast supervisory ratings in both minority and nonminority groups whether or not age and tenure were included. Unit weights were inferior to regression weights in both groups. It is concluded that supervisory ratings are linearly predictable from objective performance indices for both minority and nonminority subordinates, a finding that comports with civil rights legislation and recent US Supreme Court decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating Parenting Capacity: Validity Problems With the MMPI-2, PAI, CAPI, and Ratings of Child Adjustment.

Practitioners who conduct assessments of parenting capacity for the courts are faced with the challenge of determining the extent to which positive self-presentation by parents distorts test findings. This study examined positive self-presentation bias on commonly used psychological tests in cases referred following removal of children from the home because of abuse or neglect. Substantial positive self-presentation bias was apparent on the measures examined, and parents who presented themselves positively on one test tended to do so on others. Intellectual functioning did not account for these findings. The results demonstrate the pervasive problem of positive self-presentation bias in compromising the validity of test results in this population. Recommendations for conducting clinical assessments with this population are offered, including direction for the use and interpretation of psychological tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)