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Concordance of Parent- and Child-Reported Physical Abuse Following Child Protective Services Investigation

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Child Maltreatment

Published online on

Abstract

Knowledge about the concordance of parent- and child-reported child physical abuse is scarce, leaving researchers and practitioners with little guidance on the implications of selecting either informant. Drawing from a 2008–2009 sample of 11- to 17-year-olds (N = 636) from Wave 1 of the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, this study first examined parent–child concordance in physical abuse reporting (Parent–Child Conflict Tactic Scale). Second, it applied multivariate regression analysis to relate parent–child agreement in physical abuse to parent-reported (Child Behavior Checklist) and child-reported (Youth Self Report) child behavioral problems. Results indicate low parent–child concordance of physical abuse ( = .145). Coreporting of physical abuse was related to clinical-level parent-reported externalizing problems (y{macron} = 64.57), whereas child-only reports of physical abuse were the only agreement category related to child-reported internalizing problems (B = 4.17, p < .001). Attribution bias theory may further understanding of reporting concordance and its implications.