Repressive Adaptation in a Nonclinical Sample: Consistent and Inconsistent Reports of Child Psychosocial Functioning Across Informants

Abstract

Using multiple indicators (self-report, parent report, school grades, and disciplinary referrals), we compared the psychosocial functioning of children across Weinberger's (1990) and Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidson's (1979) repressive adaptive style (RAS) groups. Participants included 134 children ages 10 to 13 years that were recruited from public schools and 117 of their caregivers. Relative to nonrepressors, we hypothesized repressors to evidence lower levels of self-reported distress but higher parent-reported distress on the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Summary scores from the BASC self-report differed significantly between repressors and nonrepressors in the expected directions. No significant group differences in parent-reported distress or school functioning emerged. Consistent with Phipps (2005), results question the predominant assumption that the RAS is associated with risk of psychosocial difficulties in children.

Acknowledgement

This study was supported, in part, by a grant from the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (Grant number 2301818) awarded to the first author.

Notes

¹The method of completion of questionnaires for one parent was inadvertently not coded.

²The designation of groups as anxious and defensive high anxious is consistent with the repressive adaptation literature (e.g., Phipps & Srivastava, 1997; Weinberger et al., 1979) and indicates that the groups scored above the sample-specific median on the trait anxiety scale of the STAIC. It is not intended to convey that the children in these groups evidenced clinically significant levels of anxiety. Rather, the labels are intended for identification purposes only and are utilized as intended by the original adaptive style construct developed by Weinberger et al. (1979).