Family judgements about adolescent problems: Where respondents overlap and why they may disagree

Abstract

Variation between different family members' appraisals of adolescent adjustment is examined for mothers, fathers and adolescents in 50 families using individual interviews and ratings using the Achenbach check lists. Variation is partly explained by relating these to the concerns each family member expresses about the adolescent's future. Parents appear to operate within a distinct subsystem in talking about concerns and adjustment problems in comparison to their adolescent child. In particular, the parents' concerns about their child's poor attitude appear to drive their assessment of adjustment difficulties; whereas the adolescent appears to be more influenced by concerns about personal relationships outside of the family system. Participants did, however, demonstrate awareness of others' concerns. In social-cognitive terms, appraisals are context sensitive and appear to reflect different criteria for what constitutes social competence.

Acknowledgments

The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (grant no.R000233054) for aspects of this work is gratefully acknowledged.