When Parents and Adolescents Disagree About Disagreeing: Observed Parent-Adolescent Communication Predicts Informant Discrepancies About Conflict

Abstract

Adolescence is accompanied by increased stress in the parent-adolescent relationship, which frequently results in conflict. Researchers often rely on self-reports to measure conflict, but these reports are frequently discrepant from one another. In two studies, we examined the extent to which communication observed during parent-adolescent discussions of conflict were associated with discrepancies in reports about conflict. We also examined links between informant depressive symptoms and discrepancies. Across studies, observed parent-adolescent conflict behaviors consistently predicted absolute discrepancies in reports of conflict. Informant depressive symptoms sometimes predicted directional discrepancies in reports. Results suggest that informant discrepancies about conflict may stem, in part, from a lack of open communication in the relationship.

Many advancements in developmental research can be attributed to studies that have utilized reports from multiple informants. Despite the utility of a multi-informant approach, one of the most consistent findings to emerge from studies that include reports from multiple informants is that reporter ratings are often discrepant (Achenbach, McConaughy, & Howell, 1987; De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005). A growing body of evidence suggests that these discrepancies are not simply a product of flawed measurement, but rather, they are meaningful and may reflect characteristics of the reporters or the quality of their relationships (e.g., De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005). In addition to their significance as indicators of individual and relationship functioning, informant discrepancies have also been linked with deleterious outcomes for children (e.g., Lippold, Greenberg, & Feinberg, 2011). Thus, identification of factors contributing to informant discrepancies provides information to researchers who rely on multiple informant reports, and may also point to targets for preventing detrimental outcomes.

Much of the research examining discrepancies in reporting has focused on characteristics of the reporters (e.g., informant symptom severity) as predictors of discrepancies in reports of child psychological symptoms (Ehrlich, Cassidy, & Dykas, 2011; Ehrlich, Cassidy, Lejuez, & Daughters, 2014; Treutler & Epkins, 2003). Fewer studies, however, have examined characteristics relating to the relationship as correlates of discrepancies between parent and child reports. As one example of this work, researchers examined both individual reporter characteristics and aspects of the parent-child relationship as predictors of both mother-child and father-child discrepancies in child symptoms (Treutler & Epkins, 2003). Findings indicated that maternal psychological symptoms, as well as mother and child reports of conflict, were predictive of mother-child discrepancies in child symptom ratings. In contrast, father-child discrepancies were predicted by father and child conflict and relationship ratings (Treutler & Epkins, 2003). These findings provided some of the first evidence that not only can individual rater characteristics (i.e., psychological symptoms) contribute to informant discrepancies, but factors relating to the quality of the reporters’ relationships can contribute to discrepancies in informant reports about child symptoms as well.

More recent research has extended this work by examining whether informant characteristics and aspects of the relationship serve as predictors of discrepancies about the relationship itself (i.e., rather than about child symptoms). For example, Ehrlich and colleagues (2011) found that adolescent attachment coherence (using the Adult Attachment Interview; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996) was negatively associated with absolute parent-adolescent discrepancies in reports of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent conflict. Ehrlich and colleagues proposed that one possible explanation for these findings is that attachment security enables adolescents to communicate effectively about potentially difficult aspects of the relationship (Bowlby, 1988; Cassidy, 1994). If adolescents and parents engage in honest discussion about their feelings, then they should have fewer discrepancies compared to dyads that withhold information or communicate less effectively.

Indeed, findings suggest that observed mother-adolescent communication patterns are related to adolescent disclosure about activities they are engaging in outside the home (Rote, Smetana, Campione-Barr, Villalobos, & Tasopoulos-Chan, 2012). Specifically, adolescents’ clear communication (coded based on evidence of clarity and use of explanations) was positively associated with disclosure of details, and was negatively associated with lying and avoidance during the discussion. These findings provide support for the possibility that certain patterns of communication may shape the degree to which parents and adolescents are “on the same page” about issues in the relationship.

The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that discrepancies in reports of conflict emerge when parents and adolescents are unable to communicate effectively about their opinions and feelings while discussing a disagreement. Further, in light of previous research showing that informant depressive symptoms are associated with negatively biased reports (Richters, 1992), we included parent and adolescent depressive symptoms as additional predictors of discrepancies about conflict in the relationship. We chose the adolescent period because this is an age when parent-child conflict increases and communication decreases (Collins, 1990).

We examined discrepancies in informant reports in two ways. First, we examined absolute discrepancies between parent and adolescent reports of relationship conflict, which may reflect a lack of communication between two reporters. Second, we examined directional differences in reports, which indicate whether one reporter consistently over- or under-reports compared to another reporter.

To assess parent-adolescent communication, we coded parent and adolescent behaviors observed during a laboratory conflict discussion. We hypothesized that a lack of open communication would be associated with greater absolute discrepancies between parent and adolescent reports of relationship conflict. We also examined whether a lack of open communication was associated with directional discrepancies in reports. In addition, we examined links between informant depressive symptoms and absolute and directional discrepancies in reports of conflict. Consistent with the depression-distortion hypothesis (Richters, 1992), we hypothesized that informant depressive symptoms would be associated with negatively biased reports.

We examined these hypotheses in two studies that included samples with very different demographic characteristics. In the first study, we examined a sample of two-parent, mostly White, middle-class families from a suburban community. In the second study, we recruited a socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescents from one- and two-parent families located in a major metropolitan area. These samples allow for examination of the role of demographic characteristics, including age, race, gender, and income, as predictors of informant discrepancies about conflict.

Study 1

Method

Participants and procedure.

Participants were 189 eleventh-grade students (118 girls; mean age = 16.5 years) and their parents who were part of a larger study of adolescents’ close relationships. We recruited adolescents from seven public suburban high schools located in a large metropolitan area. All families were two-parent, English speaking families. Over two-thirds of the families were White (73%), with Black (14%), Asian (10%), and Hispanic (3%) families comprising the next largest racial groups. Most mothers (92%) and fathers (96%) reported having at least some college education. Annual household income was measured using a four-point scale, ranging from 1 (less than $20,000 per year) to 4 (greater than $61,000 per year). For most participants (95%), family income was greater than $41,000. Families were paid $125 for their participation. Families completed all measures during a single laboratory visit that took place the summer before their senior year in high school.

Measures.

Self-reports of parent-adolescent conflict.

We used 19 of the original 44 items from the Topics of Conflict Checklist (TCC; Prinz, Foster, Kent, & O’Leary, 1979) to assess parent-adolescent conflict. Items included topics that are often a source of disagreement for adolescents and their parents (e.g., chores, homework). For each topic, participants were asked, “Please rate how much you and your child (parent) disagree on this topic.” Participants rated conflict about each topic using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (do not disagree) to 5 (disagree much). Adolescents completed the checklist twice, once for the mother-adolescent relationship (α = .82) and once for the father-adolescent relationship (α = .84). Mothers (α = .82) and fathers (α = .87) completed their checklists separately with regard to their adolescent. For each of the four reports, we generated an average disagreement score.

Observations of parent-adolescent conflict.

After completing the rating scale, a research assistant chose three topics for each dyad to discuss, selecting topics that were rated by the parent and adolescent as high in disagreement. Dyads were instructed to discuss the first topic until they reached a resolution or decided that they were unable to resolve the disagreement. They were instructed to proceed to the remaining topics, which they discussed until the disagreements were resolved or when the task ended (after 10 minutes). The order of conflict discussions within families was counterbalanced across the sample, such that half of the adolescents participated with their mothers first, and half participated with their fathers first. All conflict tasks were videotaped for later coding.

We used the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Interaction Coding System (Ziv, Cassidy, & Ramos-Marcuse, 2002) to assess verbal and nonverbal behaviors during the discussion. This system is based on an earlier system developed by Kobak and colleagues (Kobak, Cole, Ferenz-Gillies, Fleming, & Gamble, 1993). In this study, we analyzed the open communication dyadic scale that assessed the overall degree to which the parent-adolescent dyad demonstrated comfort and openness in discussing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions during the conflict in a mutually cohesive and fluid manner. This scale uses a 7-point global rating system that provides an overall assessment of the dyad’s ability to communicate openly. Trained coders, who were blind to additional data regarding the participants, independently rated discussions. Agreement was assessed continuously throughout the coding period, and at least two coders coded a randomly selected 17% of mother-adolescent interactions (n = 32) and 16% of father-adolescent interactions (n = 31). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were greater than .80 for both scales. Rating score disagreements were resolved through discussion, and consensus scores were used in all analyses.

Parental depressive symptoms.

We administered the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), a widely used 20-item self-report measure designed to detect depressive symptoms in adults. Mothers (α = .81) and fathers (α = .82) reported about the frequency of their depressive symptoms during the past week.

Adolescent depressive symptoms.

We used the 27-item Children’s Depressive Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1985) to assess adolescent-reported symptoms of depression (e.g., disturbed mood, negative self-evaluative thoughts). At the request of school administrators, we dropped the item related to suicidal ideation, leaving 26 items (α = .85). For each item, adolescents selected one sentence out of three choices that best described them in the past two weeks (e.g., “I have fun in many things,” I have fun in some things,” and “Nothing is fun at all”). Each item is scored from 0 to 2, with higher scores reflecting higher depressive symptoms.

Absolute and directional discrepancy score calculation.

As recommended by De Los Reyes and Kazdin (2004), we calculated absolute discrepancy scores by taking the absolute difference between two informants’ standardized scores. Absolute discrepancy scores are ≥ 0, with larger values indicating greater discrepancies in informants’ reports. Directional discrepancy scores were computed by subtracting parents’ standardized reports from adolescents’ standardized reports. Positive directional discrepancy scores indicate that adolescents overreported and negative scores indicate that adolescents underreported, relative to parents.

Results and Discussion

Data analysis overview.

For the prediction of absolute and directional discrepancies, we regressed discrepancy scores on adolescent gender, race, family income, parent and adolescent depressive symptoms, and parent-adolescent open communication behaviors. We did not include adolescent age as a predictor of informant discrepancies in Study 1 because we lacked sufficient variability in age (all adolescents were recruited from 11th grade classrooms and were 16-17 years old). Kenny (1994) notes that researchers examining consensus or reliability in informant ratings may wish to control for rating levels when using discrepancy scores. In the present analyses, however, because our interest is in the magnitude of the difference in rater disagreements, we did not include rating levels as covariates.

Table 1 includes the descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for the core study variables.

Table 1.

Study 1: Descriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations Among Principal Variables

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
1. Adolescent Gender	-	−.11	.03	−.08	−.02	−.01	.00	−.12	−.01	−.09	.05	−.15*	−.05	−.06	−.03	−.01
2. Adolescent Race		-	−.33***	.19**	.11	.17*	.14†	−.07	.09	.14†	−.12	−.19**	.33***	.08	.20**	.01
3. Family Income			-	−.06	−.05	−.10	−.02	.10	−.16*	−.24**	.04	.12†	−.19*	−.01	−.04	−.05
4. AR Conflict with Mother				-	.47***	.83***	.39***	.33***	.17*	.08	−.39***	−.19**	.39***	.51***	.45***	.36***
5. MR Conflict					-	.40***	.44***	.20**	.18*	.07	−.36***	−.19*	.27***	−.52***	.18*	−.03
6. AR Conflict with Father						-	.33***	.21**	.18*	.07	−.28***	−.20**	.42***	.42***	.48***	.59***
7. FR Conflict							-	.19*	.07	.19*		−.22**	.13†	−.05	.50***	−.57***
8. Adolescent CDI								-	.28***	.13†	−.05	−.06	.05	.08	.04	−.02
9. Mother CES-D									-	.11	−.04	−.06	.08	−.07	−.01	.02
10. Father CES-D										-	−.04	−.08	.10	.02	.10	−.09
11. Mother-Adolescent Open Communication											-	.38***	−.35***	−.02	−.25***	.06
12. Father-Adolescent Open Communication												-	−.14†	.01	−.23**	.01
13. Absolute Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies													-	.11	.45***	.27***
14. Directional Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies														-	.27***	.39***
15. Absolute Father-Adolescent Discrepancies															-	−.01
16. Directional Father-Adolescent Discrepancies																-
Mean	-	-	3.80	1.92	1.85	1.76	1.90	9.80	7.3	7.2	5.24	5.14	.75	−.01	.80	.01
Standard Deviation	-	-	.52	.55	.52	.59	.60	6.32	6.2	6.4	1.06	1.11	.69	1.02	.80	1.13

Note. AR = Adolescent-reported. MR = Mother-reported. FR = Father-reported. CDI = Children’s Depression Inventory. CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Annual household income was measured using a four-point scale, ranging from 1 (less than $20,000 per year) to 4 (greater than $61,000 per year). Gender coded as 0 = Female, 1 = Male. Race codcd as 0 = White, 1 = Black.

^†p < .10.

^*p < .05.

^**p < .01.

^***p < .001.

Discrepancies in mother-adolescent reports of conflict.

Absolute discrepancies.

As hypothesized, open communication during the conflict discussion significantly predicted discrepancies, such that as dyads engaged in more open communication, discrepancies in reports decreased (see Table 2). Minority dyads had more absolute discrepancies than White dyads, and family income was marginally negatively associated with absolute discrepancies. Adolescent gender and informant depressive symptoms were not associated with absolute discrepancies in reports.

Table 2.

Study 1: Prediction of Absolute and Directional Discrepancies in Adolescents’ and Parents’ Reports of Conflict

	Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies						Father-Adolescent Discrepancies
	Absolute			Directional			Absolute			Directional
	β	sr 2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2
Step 1			.11***			.00			.04			.01
Adolescent Race	.25**	.05		.00	.00		.18*	.03		−.09	.01
Family Income	−.15†	.02		−.02	.00		.01	.00		−.09	.01
Adolescent Gender	−.01	.00		−.05	.00		−.04	.00		−.06	.00
Step 2			.11***			.02			.07**			.02
Open Communication	−.31***	.10		.06	.00		−.25**	.06		.02	.00
Parent Depressive Symptoms	.03	.00		−.13	.01		.09	.01		−.14†	.02
Adolescent Depressive Symptoms	.08	.01		.12	.01		.02	.00		.01	.00

Note. Adolescent race coded as 0 = White, 1 = Black, Gender coded as 0 = Female, 1 = Male. Ps are from variables’ first entry into the model.

^†p < .10.

^*p < .05.

^**p < .01.

^***p < .001.

Directional discrepancies.

No significant findings emerged for the prediction of directional discrepancies in mother-adolescent reports of conflict.

Discrepancies in father-adolescent reports of conflict.

Absolute discrepancies.

As hypothesized, open father-adolescent communication during the discussion significantly predicted discrepancies, such that as open communication increased, discrepancies in reports decreased. Minority dyads had more absolute discrepancies than White dyads. Family income, adolescent gender, and informant depressive symptoms were not associated with absolute discrepancies in reports.

Directional discrepancies.

Fathers’ depressive symptoms were marginally associated with directional discrepancies. Fathers’ depressive symptoms were associated with a tendency to over-report conflict (compared to adolescent reports). No other significant findings emerged.

These findings lend support to the notion that the ways in which parents and adolescents communicate are associated with discrepancies in their reports about conflict in the relationship. Although informant depressive symptoms were unrelated to absolute discrepancies in reports of conflict, fathers’ depressive symptoms were associated with a negative bias in reports of conflict with their adolescents.

Study 2

Method

Participants and procedure.

Participants were drawn from a larger sample of 320 adolescents (M_age = 14.1, SD = .50; 45% girls) and their parents who were enrolled in a longitudinal study of adolescent risk-taking. From this larger sample, 223 families participated in an extended laboratory visit that included assessment of parent-adolescent conflict and close relationships. Adolescents ranged in age from 12–17 (M = 14.1, SD = .94). This subsample included 209 mothers and 130 fathers. Families were recruited in a large metropolitan area through newspaper advertisements and flyers in public schools. Just over half (51.6%) of the sample was White, with Black (35.9%), Hispanic (6.3%), and Asian (2.2%) representing the next largest ethnic and racial groups. Families varied in income, with approximately 25% of families reporting annual incomes of $55,000 or less, and 43% reporting incomes greater than $100,000. Families completed all measures during one laboratory visit. Parents and adolescents each received $25 for their participation.

Measures.

Self-reports of parent-adolescent conflict.

We used the same self-report measure described in Study 1 for this sample (αs ranged from .86 – .89). We generated average disagreement scores and then used these scores to calculate absolute and directional discrepancy scores, following the procedure used in Study 1.

Observations of parent-adolescent conflict.

We followed the same procedure as in Study 1 to assess parent-adolescent conflict behaviors, with one exception: Because of aims central to the larger study, all mother-adolescent conflict discussions preceded father-adolescent discussions. Agreement was assessed continuously throughout the coding period. A randomly selected 24% of mother-adolescent interactions (n = 50) and 28% (n = 36) of father-adolescent interactions were coded for reliability. ICCs were greater than .81 for both scales.

Parental depressive symptoms.

As in Study 1, we administered the CES-D to assess past week depressive symptoms in mothers (α = .89) and fathers (α = .88).

Adolescent depressive symptoms.

Adolescents completed the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (Weissman, Orvaschel, & Padian, 1980), which examines past week depressive symptoms (e.g., “I was bothered by things that usually don’t bother me”). Scores for each item can range from 0 (not at all) to 3 (a lot), with higher scores indicating higher depressive symptoms.

Results and Discussion

Table 3 includes the descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for the core study variables. We regressed the absolute and directional discrepancy scores for parent-adolescent conflict on adolescent age, gender, race, family income, and open communication behaviors.

Table 3.

Study 2: Descriptive Statistics and Intercorrelations Among Principal Variables

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
1. Adolescent Gender	-	−.03	.18**	−.09	.00	.06	.04	−.25***	.01	−.03	−.10	−.06	−.03	−.10	−.05	.05
2. Adolescent Race		-	−.48***	.20**	.25***	.06	.10	−.07	.05	−.01	−.37***	−.39***	.14†	−.06	.21*	−.04
3. Family Income			-	−.25***	−.24***	−.20**	−.11	−.05	−.13†	−.07	.46***	.32***	−.21**	−.04	−.14	−.08
4. AR Conflict with Mother				-	.41***	.77***	.40***	.23***	.12†	.18*	−.21**	−.15	.40***	.53***	.46***	.37***
5. MR Conflict					-	.32***	.46***	.19**	.25***	.03	−.32***	−.31***	.32***	−.55***	.32***	−.18*
6. AR Conflict with Father						-	.32***	.23**	.16*	.10	−.20**	−.17†	.28***	.40***	.45***	.59***
7. FR Conflict							-	.15†	.16†	.10	−.01	−.11	.12	−.06	.39***	−.57***
8. Adolescent CES-D								-	.21**	.19*	−.07	−.04	.03	.05	.18*	.14
9. Mother CES-D									-	.13	−.13†	−.20*	.11	−.13†	.23**	−.04
10. Father CES-D										-	.03	−.03	.13	. 15†	.07	−.03
11. Mother-Adolescent Open Communication											-	.44***	−.21**	.10	−.19*	−.22*
12. Father-Adolescent Open Communication												-	−.03	.13	−.05	−.05
13. Absolute Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies													-	.08	.47***	.19*
14. Directional Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies														-	.11	.48***
15. Absolute Father-Adolescent Discrepancies															-	.05
16. Directional Father-Adolescent Discrepancies																-
Mean	-	-	$105,706	1.98	1.99	1.78	1.90	12.81	9.82	9.48	4.49	4.72	.75	−.01	.84	−.02
Standard Deviation	-	-	$60,769	.64	.62	.60	.58	8.86	8.65	7.26	1.76	1.53	.63	1.08	.81	1.17

Note. AR = Adolescent-reported. MR = Mother-reported. FR = Father-reported. CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

Gender coded as 0 = Female, 1 = Male. Race coded as 0 = White, 1 = Black.

^†p < .10.

^*p < .05.

^**p < .01.

^***p < .001.

Discrepancies in mother-adolescent reports of conflict.

Absolute discrepancies.

Findings revealed a significant effect of open communication on discrepancies (see Table 4). Family income was negatively associated with absolute discrepancies. Adolescent age and gender, and informant depressive symptoms were not associated with discrepant reports.

Table 4.

Study 2: Prediction of Absolute and Directional Discrepancies in Adolescents’ and Parents’ Reports of Conflict

	Mother-Adolescent Discrepancies						Father-Adolescent Discrepancies
	Absolute Discrepancies			Directional Discrepancies			Absolute Discrepancies			Directional Discrepancies
	β	sr2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2	β	sr2	ΔR2
Step 1			.05†			.03			.08†			.02
Adolescent Race	.05	.00		−.10	.01		.17†	.02		−.09	.01
Family Income	−.17*	.02		−.08	.01		−.14	.02		−.12	.01
Adolescent Gender	−.04	.00		−.06	.00		−.01	.00		.00	.00
Adolescent Age	−.05	.00		−.12	.01		−.14	.02		.01	.00
Step 2			.02			.03†			.03			.03
Open Communication	−.17*	.02		.09	.01		.05	.00		−.05	.00
Parent Depressive Symptoms	.03	.00		−.17*	.03		.01	.00		−.06	.00
Adolescent Depressive Symptoms	−.03	.00		.05	.00		.17†	.03		.17	.02

Note. Adolescent race coded as 0 = White, 1 = Black, Gender coded as 0 = Female, 1 = Male. βs are from variables’ first entry into the model.

^†p < .10.

^*p < .05.

Directional discrepancies.

Maternal depressive symptoms significantly predicted directional discrepancies. Mothers’ depressive symptoms were associated with a tendency to over-report conflict (compared to adolescent reports). No other significant findings emerged.

Discrepancies in father-adolescent reports of conflict.

Absolute discrepancies.

Unexpectedly, open communication was not associated with absolute discrepancies. Instead, adolescent depressive symptoms were marginally associated with greater absolute discrepancies, and minority dyads had marginally greater discrepancies than White dyads. Adolescent age, family income, and informant depressive symptoms were unrelated to absolute discrepancies.

Directional discrepancies.

No significant findings emerged for the prediction of directional discrepancies in father-adolescent reports of conflict.

Findings provide partial support for the hypothesis that open communication during a discussion about conflict will be associated with fewer discrepancies in reports about conflict. Open communication in mother-adolescent dyads, but not father-adolescent dyads, was linked to fewer absolute discrepancies in reports of conflict. Informant depressive symptoms were sometimes associated with a negative bias in reports of conflict.

General Discussion

Across two studies, we found support for the idea that when parents and adolescents communicate openly during a discussion of disagreement, they report more similarly to each other about their conflicts compared to dyads who are less open when discussing their problems. As we discuss in more detail below, our analyses shed light on both the phenomenon of parent-adolescent conflict as well as the methodological issues surrounding the assessment of conflict in parent-adolescent relationships.

Our findings provide insight into parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions and behaviors in the context of conflict. It may be that some parents and adolescents have divergent perceptions about their conflicts, in part, because of their poor communication habits about their disagreements. For example, when an adolescent has frustrations with a parent, but is unable to engage in an open discussion, the adolescent may fall short in communicating his or her feelings. The parent, in turn, may lack awareness about how the adolescent feels and what sort of solution could resolve the disagreement. Consequently, when the parent and adolescent report separately about how much they disagree about the issue, they are likely to report in discrepant ways because they have not communicated openly. Relative to the adolescent’s report, the parent may under-report the amount of conflict about a topic (e.g., when the parent is unaware that the issue is a source of disagreement) or may over-report the amount of conflict (e.g., when the parent observes the adolescent’s hostility and assumes a major disagreement, regardless of how the adolescent feels about the issue).

These findings also have methodological implications for the measurement of parent-adolescent conflict. Across samples, parent and adolescent reports of conflict were only modestly correlated (rs ranged from .32 to .47), which suggests considerable variability in perceptions of disagreement within the relationship. Thus, whenever possible, researchers should measure both parent and adolescent reports of conflict. Moreover, when discrepancies in parent and adolescent reports arise, researchers should consider how these discrepancies might serve as indicators of the quality of parent-adolescent communication, rather than errors in measurement.

Lastly, analyses revealed that informant depressive symptoms were sometimes associated with directional discrepancies in reports of conflict. In each case, informants’ depressive symptoms were associated with a bias to perceive more conflict in the relationship than the other informant reported, which is consistent with the depression-distortion hypothesis. In both samples, participant depressive symptoms were low, so future research should examine the relative roles of open communication and depressive symptoms in clinical samples, where the impact of depressive symptoms on informant discrepancies may be more apparent.

Despite providing evidence for the role of open communication in predicting discrepant perceptions of conflict, the current findings should be considered in light of several study limitations. First, both studies utilized cross-sectional designs; therefore, we cannot draw conclusions about causality or directionality of the observed effects. For example, although our a priori hypothesis was that a lack of open communication would contribute to discrepant reports, it may be that the direction of effects is reversed, such that when parents and adolescents cannot understand the other person’s opinions about a disagreement, they engage in ineffective communication due to frustration. Future research should utilize longitudinal study designs to gain insight into the directionality of these findings. Further, we can gain insight into causal processes by using intervention study designs. Interventions that improve communication within the relationship may reveal that dyads become less discrepant in their reports of conflict over time.

Our studies shed light on communication, conflict, and informant discrepancies in parent-adolescent dyads. One area for future studies to consider is how these processes play out in other dyadic contexts, such as best friendships and romantic relationships. By studying communication and informant discrepancies in other relationships, we can gain a broader understanding of the mechanisms contributing to informant discrepancies.

In summary, the findings from these studies provide evidence that open communication about disagreements is associated with fewer discrepancies about conflict. These results have implications for why parents and adolescents offer discrepant reports about conflict in their relationships. Further, these findings provide support for the proposition that informant discrepancies reflect ineffective communication habits, which may explain why discrepancies are linked with a range of detrimental outcomes for adolescents.