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Longitudinal Discrepancy in Adolescent Aggressive Behavior Problems: Differences by Reporter and Contextual Factors
Panpan Yang1, Gabriel L Schlomer2, Melissa A Lippold3
1Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY, USA.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
|April 8, 2021
Summary
Parent and adolescent reports of aggression differ over time. Initially, parents reported more aggression, but by age 15, adolescents reported higher levels, highlighting developmental changes in aggression reporting.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychiatry
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Informant discrepancies in adolescent aggression are poorly understood.
- Longitudinal evaluation is crucial for understanding agreement/disagreement patterns over time.
- Reporter perspectives influence the perceived developmental trajectory of aggression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine longitudinal informant discrepancies in adolescent aggressive behavior problems.
- To investigate contextual factors influencing these discrepancies.
- To analyze changes in parent-adolescent agreement on aggression from ages 11.5 to 15.
Main Methods:
- Utilized five waves of multi-informant data from the PROSPER project (N=977).
- Analyzed mother, father, and adolescent reports of aggressive behavior problems.
- Tested longitudinal changes in informant discrepancies and predictive factors.
Main Results:
- Parents reported higher aggression than adolescents at age 11.5.
- Discrepancies initially converged then diverged over time.
- Adolescents reported more aggression than parents by age 15.
- Parental hostility, family status, and adolescent gender predicted discrepancy changes.
Conclusions:
- Adolescent aggression reporting shifts significantly from parent to self-report during adolescence.
- Contextual factors like parental hostility and adolescent gender shape these reporting differences.
- Accurate assessment of adolescent aggression requires considering informant perspectives and developmental changes.
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