Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of child deviance: Roles of parent and child behaviors and parent adjustment.

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Abstract
The mothers (n = 120) and fathers (n = 85) of children with conduct problems (ages = 3-8 years) completed two measures of child adjustment (Child Behavior Checklist, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory), three personal adjustment measures (Beck Depression Inventory, Marital Adjustment Test, Parenting Stress Index), and a Life Experience Survey and were observed at home interacting with their children. In addition, teachers (n = 107) completed the Behar Preschool Questionnaire. Fathers' perceptions of their children's behaviors were significantly correlated with teachers' ratings, but mothers' ratings were not. Correlations showed that mothers who were depressed or stressed due to marital problems perceived more child deviant behaviors and interacted with their children with more commands and criticisms. Fathers' perceptions and behaviors were relatively unaffected by personal adjustment measures. Differences in these perceptions and behaviors between mothers and fathers are discussed. Before young children with behavior problems can receive treatment, they must be identified by at least one of their par- ents as having severe enough problems to warrant professional attention. However, a number of researchers (Christensen, Phil- lips, Glascow, & Johnson, 1983; Forehand, Wells, McMahon, Griest, & Rogers, 1982; Rickard, Forehand, Wells, Griest, & McMahon, 1981) have cautioned clinicians against overreli- ance on mothers' perceptions of their children's deviant behav- iors and have suggested that mothers may inaccurately label their children as deviant due to their own personal adjustment problems, including depression, anxiety, and marital dissatis- faction. Moreover, observational research has suggested that the mothers of clinic-referred children who are distressed either due to depression or marital dissatisfaction may exhibit more commands and may be more negative or hostile in their interac- tions with their children than nondistressed mothers (Fore- hand, Lautenschlager, Faust, & Graziano, 1986; Patterson, 1980). Research has also suggested that the clinic-referred chil- dren of distressed mothers are much less deviant than the clinic- referred children of nondistressed mothers (Rickard et al.,

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