Satisfaction of Parents with Their Conduct-Disordered and Substance-Abusing Youth

Abstract

This study examined parental satisfaction (using the Parent Satisfaction With Youth Scale) in 132 parents of adolescents who were dually diagnosed with conduct disorder/oppositional defiant disorder and drug abuse/dependence. Results indicated parental satisfaction did not vary as a function of age, ethnic minority status, or gender. Parents of younger youth were generally more dissatisfied than parents of older adolescents although younger youth were no more delinquent than older youth. These results suggest that parents of delinquent youth become tolerant of their children's behavior problems with time. As expected, parents were most dissatisfied with their youth's use of drugs, illicit behavior, school performance, and response to discipline. Parents who endorsed lower levels of satisfaction reported their youth engaged in more pronounced levels of problem behavior and more drug use than did parents who were relatively more satisfied with their youth. Study implications and future directions are discussed.

Examination of the Relationship Between Parental Satisfaction and Child Maltreatment Potential While Considering Social Desirability

“…Parents respond to items in increments of ten utilizing a 0 to 100 scale measuring percentage of “happiness” with their child. The reliability and validity of this scale are excellent (Donohue et al 2001). In the current study, the PSYS scale was modified to be appropriate for use with mothers of infants and victims of child maltreatment such that several items were relevant to children of all ages (i.e., communication, reaction to my rewards, how my child interacts with me), and six items are relevant only to parents of children older than 18 months (i.e., compliance, reaction to my redirection or punishment, how my child follows house rules, safety skills, the way my child does household chores, how my child participates in educational activities with me, how my child participates in family activities).…”

“…Parent Satisfaction with Youth Scale (PSYS; Donohue et al 2001). The PSYS measures how content parents are with their children across various domains in the parent–child relationship.…”

Parents' Perceptions of Their Adolescent Children, Parental Resources, and Parents' Satisfaction With the Parent-Child Relationship

“…Additional research on this topic has focused on the relationship between parental satisfaction and the number of children in the home (Goldsteen and Ross 1989;Lavee et al 1996), or on the relationship between parental satisfaction as a global construct, regardless of the ages and number of children, and family structure and marital dynamics (Rogers and White 1998). Research on parental satisfaction among parents with adolescent children (Henry et al 1997), however, has been limited and tends to focus on parental satisfaction among parents of troubled youth (Donohue et al 2001).…”

Concurrent Treatment of Substance Abuse, Child Neglect, Bipolar Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Domestic Violence: A Case Examination Involving Family Behavior Therapy

“…Measures included (a) the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV) to determine presence or absence of DSM IV disorders (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 2002); (b) a urine drug test to assess presence or absence of recent illicit drug use (e.g., Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Benzodiazapine, Barbiturates, Methadone, Phencyclidine, Opiates, Marijuana); (c) the Time Line Follow Back procedure to gather information about daily consumption of substance use and domestic violence (for full description of the method of defining domestic violence see Fals-Stewart, Birchler, & Kelley, 2003) during the 4 months prior to the time of assessment (Searles, Helzer, & Walker, 2000); and (d) the Life Satisfaction Scale (Donohue et al, 2003) to assesses Kendra’s satisfaction in various areas of functioning. Measures specific to parenting and family environment included: (a) the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI) to assess attitudes and behaviors associated with child maltreatment (Milner, Murphy, Valle, & Tolliver, 1998); (b) the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) to assess parenting and childrearing attitudes (Bavolek, 1984); (c) the Parent Satisfaction with Child scale to assess Kendra’s satisfaction with her child (modified from Donohue, DeCato, Azrin, & Teichner, 2001); (d) the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI) to assess Kendra’s perceived stress in her role as a parent (Abidin, 1990; Milner et al, 1998); (e) the Cohesion and Conflict subscales of the Family Environment Scale (FES) to assess the extent to which Kendra experienced these factors in her family environment (Moos & Moos, 1984); and (f) the Home Safety and Beautification Checklist to assess the safety of the home environment (Donohue & Van Hasselt, 1999). A narrative summary of the pretreatment assessment results is provided in the following section, and the specific pretreatment scores are listed in Table 1.…”