Abusive parents' reports of child behavior problems: relationship to observed parent-child interactions.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the hypothesis that abusive parents' reports may exaggerate rates of child behavior problems in a clinical sample.


METHODS
The association between parental ratings of behavior problems and independent observations of child behaviors was examined in a sample of 205 clinic-referred families, 58 of which had a reported history of physical abuse.


RESULTS
Relative to the comparison group, parents in the abuse group reported more externalizing problems in their children after controlling for parental psychopathology, and displayed more emotionally controlling and less supportive behavior during parent-child interactions. However, there was no association between abuse history and observed child behaviors during the interaction tasks. Abuse status significantly moderated the association between parent-reported externalizing behaviors and observed demanding behavior by the child; the association was significant among comparison families, but not in the abuse group families.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that abusive parents may over-report externalizing behavior problems in their children.
Lau
Anna S
AS
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 9511563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
Valeri
Sylvia M
SM
McCarty
Carolyn A
CA
Weisz
John R
JR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires