Disclosure and Monitoring as Predictors of Mother–Adolescent Agreement in Reports of Early Adolescent Rule-Breaking Behavior

Abstract

The current study tested whether greater monitoring by mothers and greater disclosure by early adolescents was linked to greater agreement in mothers' and adolescents' reports of rule-breaking behavior. In doing so, the article demonstrated how polynomial regression analyses can be used to test hypotheses in which informant discrepancies serve as the dependent variable. Data were obtained from 218 mother-adolescent dyads (M adolescent age = 11.5 years, 51% female, 49% European American, 47% African American). Mothers and early adolescents provided reports of their perceptions of maternal monitoring (i.e., solicitation and control through rules), adolescent disclosure, and adolescent rule-breaking behavior. Polynomial regression models tested monitoring and disclosure as moderators of the association between mothers' and adolescents' reports of the adolescents' rule-breaking behavior. Mothers' reports of rule-breaking behavior were more strongly associated with adolescents' reports of their own rule-breaking behavior when mothers reported engaging in more solicitation or control through rules. There was less agreement in mothers' and adolescents' reports of rule breaking when adolescents reported that their mothers engaged in more solicitation. Adolescent disclosure did not moderate agreement in reported rule-breaking behavior. Greater monitoring by mothers may reduce the discrepancy in mother-adolescent reports of rule-breaking behavior. Findings also demonstrate the greater validity of polynomial regression approaches over difference scores when testing hypotheses with informant agreement as the outcome.

The Role of Anxiety Control and Treatment Implications of Informant Agreement on Child PTSD Symptoms

“…To test Aim 3, analyses tested child self-reported and parent-reported child PTSD symptom measures (i.e., total PTSD symptoms, Criterion B symptoms, Criterion C symptoms, and Criterion D symptoms) with two potential moderators (i.e., child-reported ACQ and parent self-reported PTSD symptoms). Polynomial regression equations were used consistent with the approach described in Laird and Lafleur (2014) in order to test the interactions between parent-reported child PTSD symptom measures and the proposed moderators in the prediction of child self-reported PTSD symptom measures. Child self-reported PTSD symptoms were regressed on parent-reported child PTSD symptoms and the proposed moderators.…”

Discrepancies in Adolescents’ and Mothers’ Perceptions of the Family and Mothers’ Psychological Symptomatology

“…Interaction methods allow for the direct examination of whether differences between reports contribute to prediction beyond the main effects of individual reports (Laird and De Los Reyes 2013). Moreover, these methods can be modified for use to examine discrepant views as either predictors, outcomes, or both Laird and LaFleur 2015).…”

Introduction to the Special Issue: Discrepancies in Adolescent–Parent Perceptions of the Family and Adolescent Adjustment

“…This approach allows for the direct examination of whether differences between reports contribute to predicting scores on criterion variables, beyond the main effects of individual reports (Laird and De Los Reyes 2013). Moreover, polynomial regression methods can be modified for use in examinations of discrepant views as either predictors, outcomes, or both (De Los Reyes et al 2016b;Laird and LaFleur 2016). Thus, the polynomial regression approach can generalize to examining changes in informant discrepancies over time.…”