TY - JOUR
T1 - Informant Discrepancies in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in an At-Risk Sample
T2 - The Role of Parenting and School Engagement
AU - Curhan, Alexa L.
AU - Rabinowitz, Jill A.
AU - Pas, Elise T.
AU - Bradshaw, Catherine P.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A140070 (PI: C. Bradshaw) to the University of Virginia. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. John Lochman who is a Co-PI on the grant and supported the data collection for this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - A number of studies have used variable-centered approaches to examine informant discrepancies on children’s behavior problems; however, few such studies have used person-centered approaches to explore patterns of informant discrepancies or correlates of discrepancies in informant symptom ratings. The present study addressed these gaps by examining profiles of informant agreement on internalizing and externalizing symptoms and examining whether two important contextual factors, parenting and school engagement, are associated with profile membership. Data from an at-risk, urban sample of youth participants (N= 346, M age = 12.47 ± 0.60 years, 56% male, and 75% Black), their caregivers, and one of their teachers were analyzed in the current study. Youth from 20 schools in a Mid-Atlantic state were screened for elevated levels of aggression and were selected to participate in the Early Adolescent Coping Power study. At baseline, youth, caregivers, and teachers reported on youth’s internalizing symptoms and caregivers and teachers reported on youth’s externalizing symptoms. Caregivers reported on their parenting; youth reported on their school engagement. Two internalizing symptoms profiles were identified: Low Symptoms Agreement and Youth-Reported High Somatization and Anxiety. Three externalizing symptoms profiles were identified: Low Symptoms Agreement, Teacher-Reported High Externalizing, and Caregiver-Reported High Externalizing. These profiles differed significantly on parenting behaviors and school engagement, shedding light on factors that may underlie informant discrepancies.
AB - A number of studies have used variable-centered approaches to examine informant discrepancies on children’s behavior problems; however, few such studies have used person-centered approaches to explore patterns of informant discrepancies or correlates of discrepancies in informant symptom ratings. The present study addressed these gaps by examining profiles of informant agreement on internalizing and externalizing symptoms and examining whether two important contextual factors, parenting and school engagement, are associated with profile membership. Data from an at-risk, urban sample of youth participants (N= 346, M age = 12.47 ± 0.60 years, 56% male, and 75% Black), their caregivers, and one of their teachers were analyzed in the current study. Youth from 20 schools in a Mid-Atlantic state were screened for elevated levels of aggression and were selected to participate in the Early Adolescent Coping Power study. At baseline, youth, caregivers, and teachers reported on youth’s internalizing symptoms and caregivers and teachers reported on youth’s externalizing symptoms. Caregivers reported on their parenting; youth reported on their school engagement. Two internalizing symptoms profiles were identified: Low Symptoms Agreement and Youth-Reported High Somatization and Anxiety. Three externalizing symptoms profiles were identified: Low Symptoms Agreement, Teacher-Reported High Externalizing, and Caregiver-Reported High Externalizing. These profiles differed significantly on parenting behaviors and school engagement, shedding light on factors that may underlie informant discrepancies.
KW - Externalizing symptoms
KW - Internalizing symptoms
KW - Multiple informants
KW - Parenting
KW - Person-centered approach
KW - School engagement
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U2 - 10.1007/s10964-019-01107-x
DO - 10.1007/s10964-019-01107-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 31446584
AN - SCOPUS:85071441726
SN - 0047-2891
VL - 49
SP - 311
EP - 322
JO - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
JF - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
IS - 1
ER -