Parent-child discrepancies and family functioning: A longitudinal investigation of parental warmth and child internalizing problems.

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the bidirectional effects of the discrepancies between parent and child perceptions of parental warmth and child internalizing problems over time, investigating how these links evolve throughout childhood and adolescence. Family systems and the evolving relationships within them significantly impact children's development. However, it remains unclear if parent-child discrepant perceptions evolve through multiple dimensions and how these affect each other and potentially represent dysfunctionality within families. Data were collected from 1,887 children (48.9% female, M_age T1 = 8.58, SD_age = 0.57) and their mothers (M_age T1 = 36.26, SD_age = 4.55) and fathers (M_age T1 = 40.23, SD_age = 5.26) over seven annual waves from the third to ninth grade. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were employed to explore within-family cross-lagged effects. The results demonstrated only some temporal within-family cross-lagged effects, where parent-child discrepancies in parental warmth predicted discrepancies in child internalizing problems, particularly for students in Grades 6-9. Notably, the between-level effects were especially pronounced, as stable differences between families explained these linkages; families that experienced greater discrepancies in perceived child internalizing problems also exhibited larger discrepancies in parental warmth. The study underscores the importance of understanding both between-family characteristics and within-family dynamics. The findings suggest that discrepancies reveal a dysfunctionality more prominently at the between-family level rather than at the within-family level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).