Internaliserend en externaliserend probleemgedrag van adolescenten: Verschillen tussen vader-, moeder-, zoon- en dochterrapportages

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine differences between fathers, mothers and adolescents (boys and girls) reports of internalizing and externalizing problems of the adolescent. The potential qualifying effects of gender and age of the adolescent were also investigated. The data were collected as part of a longitudinal study, in which 96 families participated. The parents filled out the Child Behaviour CheckList (CBCL) and the adolescents filled out the Youth Self Report (YSR). Results showed that mothers reported significantly higher levels of internalizing problems than did fathers. No such differences emerged for parental reports of externalizing problems. For both internalizing and externalizing problems, adolescents reported higher scores than their parents did. With regard to internalizing problems, this difference was more pronounced for girls than for boys. Results for externalizing problems revealed that the difference between parental and adolescents’ reports was larger as age increased. Taken together, parents tend to underestimate the psychological problems of their children, and these differences are affected by gender and age.