Accuracy of Retrospective Reports of Family Environment

Date
2018-04
Language
American English
Embargo Lift Date
Committee Members
Degree
Degree Year
Department
Grantor
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Found At
Springer Nature
Abstract

Retrospective reports of family environments are often the only way to collect data concerning the influence of a child's experience in the family on later development. However, the accuracy of retrospective measures can be problematic because of social desirability or potential failures of memory. The purpose of this study is to compare retrospective and prospective measures of family environment. In this unique study, 198 parents and 241 adolescent children (mean age 15.7) described their family environment, and then 25 years later completed retrospective reports. We test the effects of memory, positivity, gender, and generation on retrospective reports, as well as testing the ability of prospective and retrospective measures to predict adult well-being and adult-child/elder-parent relationships. Results show moderate correlations of .30 - .45 between prospective and retrospective measures. In examining the relative effectiveness of prospective and retrospective measures to predict later life outcomes, we find that retrospective reports of the family environment most validly capture influences on the child in domains of strong emotional content but are less successful in cognitive domains.

Description
item.page.description.tableofcontents
item.page.relation.haspart
Cite As
Bell, D. C., & Bell, L. G. (2018). Accuracy of Retrospective Reports of Family Environment. Journal of child and family studies, 27(4), 1029–1040. doi:10.1007/s10826-017-0948-5
ISSN
Publisher
Series/Report
Sponsorship
Major
Extent
Identifier
Relation
Journal
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Rights
Publisher Policy
Source
PMC
Alternative Title
Type
Article
Number
Volume
Conference Dates
Conference Host
Conference Location
Conference Name
Conference Panel
Conference Secretariat Location
Version
Author's manuscript
Full Text Available at
This item is under embargo {{howLong}}