RE: parenting instruments

["Lisa Amaya-Jackson" <laj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding Dr. Ondersma's points on parenting measures:

Wonderful points and terrific references-thank you!  I view assessing risk quite similarly and while a parenting measure may help, assessing risk would be best served by looking at risk/protective factors as you describe. Parenting measures in clinic settings would be most useful (in my opinion) to:
a) assist in evaluating parental competence (and/or associated domains such as empathy), which would be important in deciding treatment targets.  For example, not only would it help point the direction for the family intervention component necessary in abuse treatment, but cognitive-behavior treatment for the child with PTSD that is  exposure based should be done with an adequate holding environment that is free from ongoing threat.  
b)  be a measure of treatment outcome (i.e. did parenting competence increase?)   
c) provide a variable for mining the database to look at what influences positive/negative treatment outcomes  in this clinic population.

I've wanted to look at the parent-interaction therapy manual for other reasons, so that citation will have double benefit. 

Appreciatively,
Lisa A-J

 



-----Original Message-----
From:	Steven J. Ondersma [SMTP:S.Ondersma@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent:	Thursday, February 10, 2000 12:29 PM
To:	Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject:	RE: parenting instruments

Part of the question involves the goal of the assessment.  Are you hoping to
predict child maltreatment risk, assess parenting competence, or make
treatment recommendations?  If attempting to predict risk, a broader view
based on a range of protective and risk factors could be useful, and could
also help get around the issue of face-validity.  Some great recent research
has studied risk factors in detail; receipt of public assistance,
depression, substance abuse, stressful life events in concert with low
perceived social support, and partner violence have all demonstrated some
relationship with maltreatment risk.  Assessing each of those separately
could allow for a more complete and valid assessment of risk. (See citations
below.)

Observational measures such as the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding
System-II can be extremely useful in evaluating actual parent behaviors, and
have direct relevance to treatment.  Although a very complex instrument, a
simplified version is presented in the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
manual.  (References below.)

As far as a simple standardized measure, the brief version of the Parent
Stress Index is quick, correlates well with the full PSI, and has
demonstrated validity.  It has some use in predicting risk, as well as in
treatment planning.

	Chaffin, M., Kelleher, K., & Hollenberg, J. (1996). Onset of physical abuse
and neglect: Psychiatric, substance abuse and social risk factors from
prospective community data. Child Abuse and Neglect, 20, 191-203.

  	Ammerman, R.T., Kolko, D.J., Kirisci, L., Blackson, T.C., & Dawes, M.A.
(1999).  Child abuse potential in parents with histories of substance use
disorder.  Child Abuse and Neglect, 23, 1225-1238.

	Brown, J., Cohen, P., Johnson, J. G., & Salzinger, S. (1998). A
longitudinal analysis of risk factors for child maltreatment: Findings of a
17-year prospective study of officially recorded and self-reported child
abuse and neglect. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22, 1065-1078.

	Hembree-Kigin, T.L., & McNeil, C. (1995).  Parent-child interaction
therapy.  New York:  Plenum.

	Kotch, B. J., Browne, D. C., Dufort, V., Winsor, J., & Catellier, D.
(1999). Prediciting child maltreatment in the first 4 years of life from
characteristics assessed in the neonatal period. Child Abuse and Neglect,
23, 305-319.

___________________________________
Steven J. Ondersma, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor--Research
Merrill-Palmer Institute
Wayne State University
71 E. Ferry Ave.
Detroit, MI  48202
Office:  (313) 872-2706
Fax:  (313) 875-0947
S.Ondersma@xxxxxxxxx
www.mpi.wayne.edu



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@xxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Lisa Amaya-Jackson
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 10:50 AM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: RE: parenting instruments


A related question:

While having used several different parenting measures in research projects,
I have found it exponentially more complicated to consider translating their
use to a clinical setting that does trauma evaluation and treatment
(including forensic eval, individual/family treatment, and/or early
intervention in-homes) for use as part of evaluation and/or treatment
outcome.

   Unlike instruments to assess child or parent symptoms/functioning, we
have found no parenting measure that we feel comfortable using routinely.
Measures are either too long to use routinely and are used only selectively
(such as CAPI) or too transparent (such as the AAPI).  By transparent, I
mean too apparent to the respondent as to what the proper response "should
be".  Though potentially still useful, we feared it could come back to haunt
us legally if a caregiver had "good" AAPI scores that conflicted with
clinical observation and recommendations for further intervention or  CPS
action.

Have others who interface with clinical settings, found a parenting measure
they find useful/feasible in those settings?

Lisa AJ



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Lisa Amaya-Jackson, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor in Psychiatry-Duke Univ. Med. Ctr.
Director, Trauma Evaluation, Treatment & Research Program
Center for Child & Family Health-- collaboration b/w Duke, UNC-CH,  & NCCU
919-419-3474 x 405   Fax: 419-9353    email: laj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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-----Original Message-----
From:	YosemiteGl@xxxxxxx [SMTP:YosemiteGl@xxxxxxx]
Sent:	Wednesday, February 09, 2000 10:58 PM
To:	Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject:	Re: parenting instruments

Also the adult-adolescent parenting index may be appropriate