Biased reporting by parents undergoing child custody evaluations.
This study tested the hypothesis that a parent undergoing a child custody evaluation will bias his or her report of the children's symptoms in a direction that supports the parent's aim in the litigation. Parents in 196 court-ordered child custody evaluations rated their children using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Additional families undergoing evaluations of visitation disputes (N = 34) and custody/visitation disputes complicated by sexual abuse allegations (N = 15) were used as comparison groups to test alternative explanations of the findings. Results were strongly supportive of the hypothesis that parental bias was present and quantifiable.
Ash
P
P
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48109-0390.
Guyer
M J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002655:Child Custody / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics