The moderating effect of perceived acceptance-rejection predicting children psychological adjustment from a multi-informant approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the moderating effect of children ́s perceived rejection on the relations between parental acceptance and children ́s psychological adjustment reported by mothers, fathers and children. The prediction values and incremental validity of the different informants were also explored. The sample was composed by 681 participants (227 children, 227 fathers, and 227 mothers), children’s (60% girls) ages ranged from 9 to 17 years (M = 12.52, SD = 1.81). Instruments used were the Parental Acceptance Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ; Ronher & Khaleque, 2008) and the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA; Achenbach and Rescorla, 2007) filled both by mothers, fathers, and children in a round-robin design. Hierarchical regression analyses were applied. The moderating effect of children ́s perceived rejection showed that different prediction values and percentages of incremental validity from mothers, fathers and children were found depending of the level of rejection that children perceived. The findings of the present study have important practical implications: the need of considering the role of perceived carelessness as moderator when predicting children psychological adjustment and the necessity of using a multi-informant perspective rather than a single one to increase the predictive value and the incremental validity when we try to predict children’s psychological adjustment.