Perceptions of problem behavior in adolescents' families: perceiver, target, and family effects.
Considerable research has focused on the reliability and validity of informant reports of family behavior, especially maternal reports of adolescent problem behavior. None of these studies, however, has based their orientation on a theoretical model of interpersonal perception. In this study we used the social relations model (SRM) to examine family members' reports of each others' externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Two parents and two adolescents in 69 families rated each others' behavior within a round-robin design. SRM analysis showed that within-family perceptions of externalizing and internalizing behaviors are consistently due to three sources of variance; perceiver, target, and family effects. A family/contextual effect on informant reports of problem behavior has not been previously reported.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, w.a.manders@uu.nl
Willeke A
WA
Manders
Jan M A M
JM
Janssens
William L
WL
Cook
Johan H L
JH
Oud
Eric E J
EE
De Bruyn
Ron H J
RH
Scholte
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D005195:Family Relations; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012801:Sibling Relations