Parent and Child Reports of Parenting Behaviors: Agreement Among a Longitudinal Study of Drug Court Participants.

Kate Guastaferro,Daniel J Whitaker,Betty S Lai,Wendy P Guastaferro,Melissa C Osborne,Samantha S Aubé

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.667593

Abstract

Identifying ways to support children of parents with substance use disorder is a critical public health issue. This study focused on the parent-child relationship as a critical catalyst in child resilience. Using data from a longitudinal cohort study, the aims of this study were to: (1 ) examine the agreement between parent and child reports of parenting behaviors and (2 ) describe the association between agreement and child mental health. Participants were 50 parent-child dyads that included parents enrolled in an adult drug court and their children, aged 8–18. Overall, agreement (i.e., concordance) between parent and child reports of parenting was slight to fair. Parents reported their parenting behaviors to be slightly more positive than how children rated the same behaviors in the areas of: involvement, 0.53 (SD = 0.80); positive parenting, 0.66 (SD = 0.87), and monitoring behaviors, 0.46 (SD = 0.90). Parents also rated themselves, in comparison to their children's reports, as using less inconsistent discipline, −0.33 (SD = 1.00), and less corporal punishment, 0.13 (SD = 1.01). Agreement was related to some, but not all, child mental health outcomes. When parents rating their parenting as more positive than their child reported, that had a negative effect on child self-esteem and personal adjustment. Contrary to hypotheses, we did not find a significant relationship between positive parenting and internalizing problems. Findings have implications for obtaining parent and child reports of parenting within the drug court system, and for identifying children at higher risk for externalizing problems.

Highlights

Identifying ways to support children of parents with substance use disorder is a critical public health issue
It is unclear how agencies and researchers may best identify issues or needs within the parent-child relationship. It is unclear whether agencies should ask about parenting behaviors by querying the parent, the child, or both the parent and child. This paper addressed this issue by examining parent and child reports of parenting behaviors among a sample of families enrolled in an adult drug court in order to assess agreement and subsequent associations with child outcomes
The current analysis focuses on a subsample of 50 dyads of the drug court participant and child from Time 1 and Time 2 (1-year post enrollment)

Summary

Introduction

Identifying ways to support children of parents with substance use disorder is a critical public health issue. Half of drug court participants in the United States are parents to at least one child under 18, one-fifth (20%) of whom are primary caregivers [13]. The children of those individuals experience the negative effects of parental substance, as well as the negative effects of their parent’s criminal justice involvement [14] and co-occurring parental mental health needs [15]. It is known that a positive and strong parent-child relationship may mitigate negative outcomes for children [16] It is unknown if this holds true among drug court participant parents and their children, given the lack of information available about the parent-child relationship of drug court-involved parents [17]

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Conclusion