Reporter Discrepancies Among Parents, Adolescents, and Peers: Adolescent Attachment and Informant Depressive Symptoms as Explanatory Factors
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Abstract
The issue of informant discrepancies about child and adolescent functioning is an important concern for clinicians, developmental psychologists, and others who must consider ways of handling discrepant reports of information, but reasons for discrepancies in reports have been poorly understood. Adolescent attachment and informant depressive symptoms were examined as 2 explanations for absolute and directional discrepancies about adolescent symptoms, relationships, and social behavior in a sample of 189 eleventh-grade students (mean age = 16.5 years). Adolescent attachment predicted absolute discrepancies, with greater attachment coherence associated with fewer discrepancies in reports of adolescent depressive symptoms, parent–adolescent conflict, and adolescent externalizing behavior. Parents’ but not adolescents’ depressive symptoms sometimes predicted absolute discrepancies. Mothers’ depressive symptoms and adolescent attachment predicted the direction of discrepancies for mother–peer reports only.
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ehrlich, K.B., Cassidy, J. and Dykas, M.J. (2011), Reporter Discrepancies Among Parents, Adolescents, and Peers: Adolescent Attachment and Informant Depressive Symptoms as Explanatory Factors. Child Development, 82: 999-1012., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01530.x . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.