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Measuring Improvement in Parenting

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<B>Still searching for the best in parenting outcome measures for home
visiting programs.</B><B></B>
<P>This is my second post on this subject;&nbsp; the first was in November
1998.
<BR>I am continuing to identify ways of measuring improvement in parenting
that would be appropriate for use in a home visiting program (Healthy Families)
aimed at mothers at high risk of abuse and neglect.&nbsp; We have been
using the NCAST measures and the HOME for about 5 years, and agree with
their theoretical perspective, but we are not completely satisfied.&nbsp;
Increasingly, we must have the measures completed by highschool prepared
paraprofessional home visitors, and the training "upkeep" on NCAST measures
is too expensive.
<P>We are looking primarily for measures set up like <U>skills checklists</U>,
or a combination of knowledge (like about safety or feeding issues) and
parenting skills.&nbsp; We are uncomfortable with using scales like the
PSI because they are so clinical and occasionally negative in wording.&nbsp;
They are also measuring global concepts (like stress reduction) when we
are more interested in proximal behaviors (like responsiveness, touch,&nbsp;
parental teaching, reading, or proper feeding) or provision of a good environment
for development (like having a predictable daily life, food in the fridge,
some toys in the home).
<P>One think that my review has shown me is that we are not alone in our
search;&nbsp; another is that too few instruments seem to be widely available
on this topic, unlike other areas of research (like personality).
<P>We are aware of these:
<BR>NCAST
<BR>HOME
<BR>AAPI Bavolik measures (knowledge &amp; attitudes)
<BR>CAP (not a behavior measure, but relevant)
<BR>Parenting Capacity Assessment (Steinhauer)
<BR>P/CIS (Marilee Comfort)
<BR>National Network on Family Resiliency (www.nfr.org)
<BR>Parenting Stress Index (Abidin)
<P>We would appreciate any further information.
<BR>&nbsp;
<P>Sharon Carnahan, Ph.D.
<BR>(407) 646-2548
<BR>&nbsp;
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