Parental affect and childrearing beliefs uniquely predict mothers' and fathers' ratings of children's behavior problems

The focus of this study was to examine the relations between parental characteristics and ratings of children's behavior problems. Although there is a considerable body of research that indicates that parental reports of children's behavior are biased by the characteristics of the parent,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied developmental psychology 2007-09, Vol.28 (5), p.445-457
Main Authors: Mulvaney, Matthew K., Mebert, Carolyn J., Flint, Jacqueline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior Problems
Behavioural problems
Beliefs
Bias
Child Behavior
Evaluation
Fathers
Gender Differences
Human development
Mental health
Mothers
Parent Child Relationship
Parent mental health
Parents
Psychological Characteristics
Ratings
Traditional childrearing beliefs
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Summary:The focus of this study was to examine the relations between parental characteristics and ratings of children's behavior problems. Although there is a considerable body of research that indicates that parental reports of children's behavior are biased by the characteristics of the parent, a number of limitations of past research have precluded definitive conclusions about the impact of individual characteristics. This study examined the role of parental affect and childrearing beliefs in determining parental ratings of child behavior in a selected sample of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. A series of analyses was specified in which teachers' and co-parents' ratings were controlled to examine the unique associations between parental characteristics and ratings of child behavior. After controlling for the co-parents' and teachers' ratings, both mothers' and fathers' psychological characteristics uniquely contributed to variation in their ratings of children's behavior problems. The specific affective and childrearing belief variables that accounted for variation in parental ratings varied by parent sex and the broadband rating analyzed. These analyses indicate the role that rater-specific characteristics may play in determining parents' assessments of child behavior.
ISSN:0193-3973
1873-7900
DOI:10.1016/j.appdev.2007.06.001