Similarity of parent and child self-views in stress-affected and stress-resilient urban families.

Abstract

This study was conducted with a sample of highly stressed 4th-6th grade urban children consisting of matched subsamples previously classified as stress affected (SA) or stress resilient (SR). Separate in-depth interviews with parents and children provided objective self-ratings of a number of personal characteristics and expressive motor behavioral styles. Based on subsets of identical items from the two interviews, discrepancy (D)-scores were computed between parents' and children's self-ratings of ten personal descriptors, seven expressive motor behaviors, and their sum. Significantly lower D-scores were found for SR, compared to SA, parent-child dyads on all three of these measures. For the total sample, small parent-child D-scores also related significantly to indicators of fewer child problem behaviors and more competencies, assessed across multiple rater sources (i.e., parents, former teachers, and current teachers).