◦ 125 adolescents (56% girls; 75% Caucasian) and their mothers from the Adolescent Adjustment Project (AAP) ◦ Adolescents’ mean age = (SD=.70) ◦ All participants attended a public high school in Delaware, Pennsylvania, or Maryland and were in the 10 th or 11 th grade at Time 1 Sample Discrepancies in Adolescent-Mother Perceptions of Family Functioning and Adolescent Internalizing Problems Christine McCauley Ohannessian, University of Delaware Conclusions *Supported by NIAAA K01AA Do Adolescent Internalizing Problems Predict Adolescent-Mother Discrepancies in Family Perceptions? The model predicting adolescent-mother discrepancies in family perceptions from internalizing problems also provided a good fit to the data (X 2 (6)=3.52, p=.74; CFI=1.00; RMSEA=.00). Adolescents’ reports of their own depression predicted discrepancies in adolescent- mother perceptions of family satisfaction (β =.39, p<.001) and open communication (β =.27, p<.01) (see Figure 2). In addition, mother reports of adolescent anxiety- depression predicted adolescent-mother discrepancies in problems in communication (β =.26, p<.05). These results indicate that higher levels of adolescent depression and anxiety symptomatology lead to greater discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of family functioning. Measures The Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS; Olson & Wilson, 1982) was completed by the adolescents and their mothers to assess their satisfaction with the family. The FSS includes 14 items. A representative FSS item is “How satisfied are you with how close you feel to the rest of your family?” Participants are asked to respond on a scale ranging from 1 = dissatisfied to 5 = extremely satisfied. Separate total FSS scores were calculated for adolescents (α =.90) and mothers (α =.83). The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC; Weissman et al., 1980) was used to measure adolescent depressive symptomatology. Adolescents were asked to respond to the CES-DC items in regard to how they felt or acted during the past week. A sample item from the CES-DC is “I felt sad.” The response scale ranges from 1 = not at all to 4 = a lot. The 20 CES-DC items were summed to create a total score (α =.90). During the spring of 2007 and 2008, adolescents who provided assent, and who had parental consent, were administered a self-report survey in school by trained research personnel. The survey took approximately 40 minutes to complete. Upon completion of the survey, the adolescents were given a movie pass for their participation. Mothers were mailed a similar survey to complete and were sent a $20 gift card upon receipt of their completed survey. Procedures The primary goal of this study was to examine whether adolescent-mother discrepancies in perceptions of the family predict later adolescent psychological adjustment (as indicated by both adolescent and mother reports of internalizing problems) and/or whether adolescent psychological adjustment predicts later adolescent-mother discrepancies in perceptions of the family. Surveys were administered to 125 adolescents and their mothers during the spring of 2007 (Time 1) and 2008 (Time 2). SEM results indicated that greater discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of family functioning predicted higher levels of adolescent internalizing symptomatology. In addition, higher levels of internalizing symptomatology predicted later discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of family functioning. These findings are consistent with developmental systems theories emphasis on bidirectional relations between the individual and the context. The Adolescent-Parent Communication Scale (Barnes & Olson, 2003) was used to measure communication between adolescents and their mothers. This 20-item measure includes two subscales – open family communication and problems in communication. A sample item is “There are topics I avoid discussing with my mother/child”. The response scale ranges from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. In this study, separate scale scores were calculated for adolescents and their mothers. Cronbach alpha coefficients ranged from.78 to.92. In the present study, discrepancies in adolescents’ and their mothers’ perceptions of family functioning predicted both adolescent and mother reports of adolescents’ internalizing problems one year later. In addition, adolescent and mother reports of adolescent internalizing problems predicted discrepancies in adolescents’ and their mothers’ perceptions of family functioning a year later. These findings underscore the importance of taking both adolescents’ and their parents’ perceptions into account, as well as considering both directions of influence when examining family functioning and adolescent psychological adjustment. Abstract Results The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED; Birmaher et al., 1995) was used to assess adolescent anxiety. The SCARED includes 41-items completed in reference to the past three months. A representative item is “I get really frightened for no reason at all.” The response scale for the items ranges from 0 = not true or hardly ever true to 2 = very true or often true. SCARED items may be summed to reflect a total anxiety symptomatology score. The SCARED total score was used in this study (α =.93). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBC; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) was used to obtain mothers’ reports of adolescent problem behaviors. The CBC includes 113 items. Parents are presented with a list of problems and are asked to state whether each problem is 0 = not true, 1 = somewhat or sometimes true, or 2 = very true or often true for their adolescent. Sample items are “fearful, anxious” and “enjoys little”. The anxious-depressed (α =.76) and withdrawn-depressed (α =.83) scales were used in this study. Prior to the primary analyses, discrepancy scores were calculated by subtracting the adolescent score from the mother score for the family measures. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine whether adolescent- mother discrepancies in perceptions of the family predicted adolescent internalizing problems one year later and/or whether internalizing problems predicted discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of family functioning one year later. Do Adolescent-Mother Discrepancies in Family Perceptions Predict Adolescent Internalizing Problems? The model predicting internalizing problems from adolescent-mother discrepancies in family perceptions fit the data well (X 2 (6)=7.40, p=.29; CFI=1.00; RMSEA=.01). As shown in Figure 1, discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of family satisfaction predicted adolescents’ reports of their own depression (β =.26, p<.05). In addition, discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions of problems in communication predicted mother reports of adolescent anxiety-depression (β =.27, p<.01) and withdrawn-depression (β =.24, p<.05). These results indicate that greater discrepancies in adolescent-mother perceptions lead to higher levels of adolescent anxiety and depression symptomatology. To obtain a copy of this poster, please visit