Measuring child maltreatment: A comparison of prospective parent reports and retrospective adolescent reports.

Abstract

Using Lehigh Longitudinal Study data (N = 457), the authors compare prospective parent self-reports and retrospective adolescent reports of early childhood physical abuse, exploring their correspondence, predictive equivalence, and outcomes associated with conflicting reports. Correspondence between prospective and retrospective reports of child maltreatment was moderate (Phi = 0.27). Concurrence rates were similar for males and females. Analyses of the relative predictive capacity of prospective and retrospective measures revealed both to be significant predictors of key outcomes in adolescence. Findings support the predictive validity of both measures of childhood maltreatment and underscore the methodological challenges of measuring this important construct. Given the abundance and salience of research on the consequences of childhood maltreatment, greater attention to such measurement issues is due.

Protection against antisocial behavior in children exposed to physically abusive discipline

“…Perhaps most troubling is the abundance of studies that use cross-sectional designs and retrospective measures of child maltreatment, absent validation against prospective measures [4,7]. The use of cross-sectional designs leads to ambiguity in causal effects; retrospective measurement is problematic because assessment depends on accurate recall of distant childhood events, which are subject to distortion and/or selectively recalled.…”

“…In the child maltreatment literature, more universal methodological shortcomings exist [7,[17][18][19], which further undermine the strength of existing knowledge on resilience for abused children. Perhaps most troubling is the abundance of studies that use cross-sectional designs and retrospective measures of child maltreatment, absent validation against prospective measures [4,7].…”

“…For example, during adolescence, victims of abuse are at higher risk than are nonabused youth for a variety of mental health and behavior problems, including delinquency and violence [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. However, there is evidence that many victims of abuse avoid later involvement in antisocial behavior, which raises the prospect that these youth encounter protective influences that buffer the influence of this earlier risk exposure [1].…”

Incidence of childhood abuse among women with psychiatric disorders compared with healthy women: Data from a tertiary care centre in India

“…However, recent work has suggested that they are more reliable than previously thought (Tajima, Herrenkohl, Huang, & Whitney, 2004). The second limitation of the study is the self-report of childhood abuse history by participants especially with mental illness, which might be liable to recall bias even though a review by Brewin, Andrews, and Gotlib (1993) has indicated that the recall of childhood abuse by adults has been relatively accurate.…”

Modeling posttraumatic stress disorder among victimized women on probation and parole : examining the impact of childhood victimization.

“…Additionally, prospective measures have the benefit of recency, reducing the chances that the events are forgotten or distorted by later experiences (Tajima, Herrenkohl, Huang, & Whitney, 2004). However, recent events may also be underreported if the issues are particularly sensitive, such as childhood victimization, where the child may fear that disclosure will lead to a negative outcome for them (e.g., retaliation from their abuser, removal from their home, etc.…”