Effective parenting is a critical component of healthy child development and deficits in parenting skills have been implicated as both pathogenic and maintaining factors for childhood disruptive behavior problems and subsequent behavioral and emotional problems extending into adulthood. Parenting measures are still needed that are brief, low-cost, have strong psychometrics and established norms, are bias free, and are sensitive to change. We have recently developed a set of measures to address these limitations. The Skill Acquisition Measure (SAM), a measure of parenting knowledge and skill acquisition, is a computerized assessment during which respondents answer questions in response to video-clip vignettes of both common and challenging parenting scenarios. The Skill-use Internet Diary (SID), a measure of parenting skill utilization, is an internet- based diary used to document the use of various parenting behaviors in daily life. Both measures focus specifically on the domains of parenting that are known to be associated with childhood disruptive behavior problems. The measures cover content including, age-appropriate expectations, effective communication, planned ignoring, rewards, consequences, time-outs, attending to positive behavior, and praise. This project will allow us to evaluate the psychometric properties of these two measures and establish norms and optimal clinical cut-scores using a using a large, nationally representative sample (N = 1,000). This project will result in psychometric and normative data for a set of promising new parenting measures that will contribute to both developmental research and intervention research.
Aim 1 is to examine the reliability and validity of the SAM and SID using data obtained from a nationally representative sample.
Aim 2 is to establish norms and optimal clinical cut-off scores for the SAM and SID using data from a nationally representative sample.
Aim 3 is to use item response theory (IRT) to establish a brief (10-item) and unbiased version of the SAM (no differential item functioning [DIF] for any of the items) of the SAM that will enhance its utility as a research tool for both longitudinal and early-intervention research. This proposed project is consistent with both the R21 mechanism (development of novel techniques, agents, methodologies, models, or applications that could have a major impact) and NICHD?s mission to ensure, ?that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives.?
This project will allow us to evaluate the psychometric properties of two new parenting measures (Skill Acquisition Measure [SAM] and Skill-use Internet Diary [SID]) and establish norms using a large, nationally representative sample. We will also use item-response theory to establish a brief (10-item) version of the SAM to enhance its utility as a research tool for both longitudinal and early-intervention research.
