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Comparison of Parent Versus Child-Report of Child Impulsivity Traits and Prediction of Outcome Variables

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Abstract

Five personality traits that dispose individuals to rash or ill-advised action (i.e., sensation seeking, negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of planning, and lack of perseverance), can be reliably and validly assessed in children. This paper reports on the first test of parental reports of these traits. In a sample of 94 children (ages 7–13, mean age 10.6), the authors found the following. First, parental reports of the five traits in their children appeared to be reliable. Second, there was moderate convergent validity: parent and child reports of the same traits had a median correlation of r = .30. Third, there was adequate discriminant validity: within-parent reports on different traits had a median correlation of r = .11. Fourth, concurrent prediction of child behavior from parental reports generally was inconsistent with prior findings. Fifth, discrepancies between the two reporters did predict dysfunctional child behavior. There are advantages to securing both child self-report and parental report of personality dispositions to rash action, although there is limited evidence for the concurrent validity of parental reports.

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Notes

  1. There are other personality models of impulsivity that merit consideration by researchers as well (Barrett 1993; Buss and Plomin 1975; Dickman 1990; Evenden 1999; Gray and McNaughton 2000; Wills et al. 2011). We focus on these five traits because we find this model compelling; investigation of child self-report and parental report of other traits related to impulsive action is both necessary and important.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 111-K Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA

    Tamika C. B. Zapolski

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 105 Kastle Hall, Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA

    Gregory T. Smith

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  1. Tamika C. B. Zapolski
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  2. Gregory T. Smith
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Correspondence to Gregory T. Smith.

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Zapolski, T.C.B., Smith, G.T. Comparison of Parent Versus Child-Report of Child Impulsivity Traits and Prediction of Outcome Variables. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 35, 301–313 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-013-9349-2

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