Assessing Exposure to Violence Using Multiple Informants: Application of Hierarchical Linear Model

The present study assesses the effects of demographic risk factors on children's exposure to violence (ETV) and how these effects vary by informants. Data on exposure to violence of 9-, 12-, and 15-year-olds were collected from both child participants (N = 1880) and parents (N = 1776), as part...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child psychology and psychiatry 2000-11, Vol.41 (8), p.1049-1056
Main Authors: Kuo, Meichun, Mohler, Beat, Raudenbush, Stephen L., Earls, Felton J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
African Americans - psychology
Assessment
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child clinical studies
Child psychology
Children
Cohort Studies
Demographics
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Exposure
exposure to violence
Female
Hierarchical models
Hispanic Americans - psychology
Humans
Life Change Events
Linear Models
Male
Medical sciences
multiple informant
Multivariate Analysis
Observer Variation
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Psychology, Child
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self Disclosure
Social behavior disorders
Violence
Violence - ethnology
Violence - psychology
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Summary:The present study assesses the effects of demographic risk factors on children's exposure to violence (ETV) and how these effects vary by informants. Data on exposure to violence of 9-, 12-, and 15-year-olds were collected from both child participants (N = 1880) and parents (N = 1776), as part of the assessment of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). A two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) with multivariate outcomes was employed to analyze information obtained from these two different groups of informants. The findings indicate that parents generally report less ETV than do their children and that associations of age, gender, and parent education with ETV are stronger in the self-reports than in the parent reports. The findings support a multivariate approach when information obtained from different sources is being integrated. The application of HLM allows an assessment of interactions between risk factors and informants and uses all available data, including data from one informant when data from the other informant is missing.
ISSN:0021-9630
1469-7610
DOI:10.1111/1469-7610.00692