MULTI-METHOD ASSESSMENT OF PARENT-ADOLESCENT UNDERSTANDING Alan Sillars, University of Montana Ascan Koerner, Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, & Amy Kampen, University of Wisconsin Abstract This research examines family communication patterns and parent-adolescent understanding using video replay and questionnaire methods for assessing understanding. Individuals from fifty families, each including two parents and an adolescent child, completed questionnaires, held a family discussion, and tried to reconstruct the thoughts of other family members while watching a videotape of the discussion. Results indicated that family members had little understanding of what others were thinking during family discussions. Fathers’ understanding of children was particularly low. Understanding scores derived from questionnaire items were not associated with understanding scores derived from the video replay sessions, suggesting that the two methods tap separate dimensions of family understanding. Some understanding scores derived from the questionnaires were positively correlated with family conformity-orientation and negatively correlated with family conversation-orientation and parent-child relationship satisfaction. The results suggest that conformity-oriented families may achieve higher understanding in some areas, but parents and children appear more satisfied when perspectives are more freely expressed and loosely understood.