Poster #226 - Predictors and Outcomes of Parent-Child Discrepancies About Peer Victimization

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Peer victimization has been consistently linked with long-term negative outcomes including internalizing and externalizing problems (Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, & Telch, 2010; Reijntjes et al., 2011). Some of the most common advice given to victimized children is to tell their parent, but research has found that parents and children often do not agree on rate of peer victimization (e.g., Erath, Tu, & El-Sheikh, 2012; Holt, Kantor, & Finkelhor, 2008). Thus the current study aimed to investigate the extent of parent-child agreement about children’s peer victimization experiences, as well as predictors and outcomes of parent-child agreement using a longitudinal, multi-informant design. Participants were children from two independent community samples (Study 1 N = 80; Mage = 12.36; Study 2 N =123; Mage = 12.03) and their parents and teachers. Observer-rated parental sensitivity, child-reported parental warmth, and child-reported consultation were examined as concurrent predictors of parent-child agreement about peer victimization. These predictors were chosen based on the Discrepancies in Victimization Implicate Developmental Effects (DiVIDE) model which identifies child consultation and the parent-child relationship as two important sources of concordance (Goodman, De Los Reyes, & Bradshaw, 2010). The DiVIDE model also addresses the predictive utility of discrepancies, suggesting that parent-child discrepancies can influence a range of adjustment outcomes, including internalizing and externalizing problems. Therefore, the current study examined parent and teacher reports of externalizing behaviors, and child reports of depressive symptoms and peer victimization as longitudinal outcomes of parent-child discrepancies about peer victimization. Polynomial regression analyses revealed that parental sensitivity significantly moderated the association between parent and child reports of peer victimization, such that high parental sensitivity strengthened the relationship between parent and child reports. Additionally, parent-child discrepancies about peer victimization significantly predicted teacher-reported externalizing behaviors across approximately ten months. That is, the association between child-reported peer victimization and teacher-reported externalizing behaviors was weaker at higher levels of parent-reported peer victimization, compared to lower levels of parent-reported peer victimization. Results underscore the importance of understanding factors that can improve parent-child concordance regarding victimization, given that telling parents is a nearly universal recommendation for victimized children. Additionally, results emphasize that parental knowledge of peer victimization can serve a protective function, at least for externalizing behaviors.

Authors

• Carlynn Vandenberg, Auburn University
  Presenting Author

• Stephen Erath, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author