List of used measures
Below is a list of measures used in many of our research projects
Personal Data and Health Questionnaire, (PDHQ; Hutchings, 1996, Revised 2007)
This is a 39-item semi structured interview, which is completed by the parent or primary care giver and takes 5-10 minutes to complete. the measure is split into 10 subsections, looking at child and mother's health, background, education and income.
Demographic Questionnaire (based on the Personal Development and Health Questionnaire, Hutchings, 1996)
This is used to attain basic socio-demographic and general health data on family members. Administered as a semi-structured interview, typically carried out with the mother of the index child and takes 10 minutes to complete. The questionnaire covers aspects of the child's health, development, other residents in the child's home, quality of relationship between parents where applicable, quality of housing and primary carer's education.
The Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory, (ECBI; Eyberg & Ross, 1978. Eyberg, 1980)
This is a 36 item inventory used to assess the number and intensity of conduct problems occurring in children from age 2-16 years. The inventory is self-administred parent report measure and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Each behaviour is rated on two scales a 7-point Intensity scale that measures how often the behaviour is perceived to occur, ranging from 1 (never) to 7 (always); and a yes-no Problem scale that identifies whether the behaviour is currently seen as a problem for the parent. A total score of each scale is given by adding up the raw score, both scales are continuous such that higher scores on the scale indicate a greater level of conduct-disordered behaviour and greater impact on the parent. The ECBI can also be used with siblings of the index child.
Strengths and Difficulties, (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)
This is a 25-item inventory (containing five sub scales) designed to assess the occurrence of particular behaviours that have been associated with conduct problems, hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, peer problems, and pro-social behaviour in children aged 4-16 years. For young children the inventory is a self-administred parent or teacher report measure and takes 5 minutes to complete. The respondent is asked to rate how true of the index child a particular behaviour is, using a 3-point scale ranging 0 (not true) to 2 (certainly true). In addition to the 25 items, an impact supplement is also available. This supplement asks whether the respondent thinks the index child has a problem, and if so asks further questions about chronicity, distress, social impairment and burden to others. Scoring is achieved by summing the items within each of the five sub scales, a total difficulties score is calculated by summing the score from all sub scales except the pro-social scale For more information on the SDQ visit their website www.sdqinfo.com.
Beck Depression Inventory, (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock & Erbaugh, 1961)
This is 21-item inventory measuring the severity of characteristics attitudes and symptoms associated with depression. Each item contains four possible responses, which range in severity from 0 to 3. The inventory is self-administred and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The scores from each of the 21-items are summed to achieve a total score (minimum score=0, maximum=63) If more than one statement has been circled the highest scored statement is chosen. Score 05-09 = normal ups and downs, Score 10-18 = mild to moderate depression, Score 19-29 = moderate to severe depression, Score 30-63 = severe depression.
Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolff & Acker, 1993)
This is a 30-item inventory is designed to measure dysfunctional discipline practices. The scale targets specific aspects of parental discipline practice rather than providing a global measure of such attitudes and beliefs. The measure contains three sub-scales: Laxness, Overreactivity and Verbosity. Responses are made using a 7-point scale anchored between two alternative responses to a situation, where a score of 7 represents the highest score in terms of ineffectiveness. The questionnaire is completed by the parent and takes approximately 10 minutes.
O'Leary-Porter Overt Hostility Scale (Modified by Johnson & O'Leary, 1987)
This scale is 10-item scale using a 5-point rating ranging from never to very often. The scale is designed to assess the amount that parents openly argue in the presence of their children. The questionnaire is completed by the parent and takes approximately 5 minutes. The first 9 items are keyed positively, i.e. never = 4, very often = 0, the 10th item is keyed negatively i.e. never = 0, very often = 4. Minimum score = 0 and maximum score = 40, to find total overt hostility add scores together.
Parenting Stress Index (PSI, Abidin, 1990)
This is a self-administred 36-item measure used to assess parental stress levels. The responses use a 5 point rating scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) The measure is spilt into 5 sub-scales of; Defensive Responding, Parental Distress, Parent Child Dysfunctional Interaction, Difficult Child and Total Stress. This takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
Parenting Sense of Competence (PSoC; Mash and Johnston, 1983)
This is a 17-item measure developed to assess parenting self-esteem, the measure has 2 sub-scales; Parent Satisfaction, the level of satisfaction parents get from being a mother or father, and Parent Self Efficacy, the level of self efficacy parents achieve by being a parent. Items are rated using a 6 point scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree), to 6 (strongly disagree). For items 1, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, and 17 scoring is reversed. The higher he score from all items indicate greater self-esteem.
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS; Tennant, Hiller, Fishwick, Platt, Joesph, Weich, Parkinson, Secker & Stewart-Brown, 2007)
This is a 14-item positively worded self report measure, using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time) the parent tick the response that best describes their experiences over the past two weeks. An overall score is calculated by totaling the scores from each item, the minimum score achievable is 14 and the maximum is 70, the higher the score the more indicative of a higher level of mental well-being.
Infant/Toddler Home Inventory (Caldwell & Bradley, 2003)
This measure looks at the child's behaviour, and the interaction between the parent and child within the home environment with use of observation and the use of a 45-item questionnaire divided into 6 sub scales; responsivity, acceptance, organisation, learning materials, involvement and variety.For each sub-scale there is a possible maximum score and a median score. Scoring is conducted in a binary form using plus and minus. These scores are then tallied for each sub-section and added together to make a total score.
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ; Squires, Potter & Bricker, 1999)
This is a battery of 19 questionnaires consisting of 8 items each, completed by parents or primary care givers. The questionnaires are age appropriate, and administered over increasing intervals of age, ranging from 4 to 60 months old. The questionnaire consists of 30 developmental items across 5 areas; Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Problem Solving and Personal Social. The questionnaire takes 10 minutes to complete. Scoring is conducted using a 3-point scale ranging from yes, sometimes and not yet, these are converted to 10, 5, 0 respectively. The scores are totaled for each area, the total score is given by summing all area scores. Any child scoring a total of above 100 is developing without problem,a total score below 75 may suggest the child has significant developmental problems.
Schedule of Growing Skills II (SGS II; Bellman, Lingman & Aukett, 1996)
This is a developmental screening tool,used by health visitors. GPs, pediatricians and other professionals involved in care of young children from birth to five years old. The measure consists of a 187 item scale spilt into 5 broad developmental fields, and then into various sub-fields. It is used to examine whether the intervention impacts on child development. The measure is scored by taking the highest ranking item that the child performed on each sub-field as their highest score. Scores are then summed to provide a score for each of the sub scales. These scores are then transferred to the SGS II Profile form, by circling and shading the corresponding box denoting the child's score. A horizontal line is then drawn through the age (in months) that most closely represents the child's chronological age. The measure takes 30 minutes to complete.
Dyadic Parent-child Interaction Coding System (DPICS; Robinson & Eyberg, 1981)
This is an observational measure designed to assist with the assessment of the quality of parent-child social interaction. Thirty-seven parent and child behaviour categories are employed, summarised in terms of: parent behaviours, child deviance, child responses to commands and parent and child affect. Observational coding is continuous and results in the total frequency of each behaviour per specified interval. Each category is clearly defined and accompanied by a series of examples, specific guidelines to discrimination between categories, and decision rules designed to aid decision making when there is uncertainty between categories. Following Webster-Stratton (1998) the DPICS is divided into 4 parent summary variables; Positive Parenting (including praise, both labeled and unlabelled, positive affect and physically positive behaviour, and problem solving), Critical Statements, Commands and Parent Non-Verbal Affect (valence). Three child variables are; Child Deviance and Non Compliance (cry, whine, yell, physical negative, smart talk, destructive behaviour and non-compliance), Positive Affect and Pro-Social Behaviours (smiles, laughs, hugs, affection and positive statements) and Child Non-Verbal Affect (valence). The measure takes 30 minutes to complete the researcher observes the parent (typically mother) interacting with their child at home. The total frequency of each behaviour is taken for each variable.
Conners Abbreviated Parent/Teacher Rating Scale (Conners, 1994)
This is a self-report measure consisting of a 10-item scale assessing the incidence of hyperactivity observed by the parent in children aged between 3-7 years. It comprises of the most highly loaded symptoms from the facto scales of the Conners Parent and Conners Teacher Rating Scale. The parent/teacher is asked to rate the degree to which a particular behaviour occurs in the index child by marking a response from a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much). The 10 items are summed to produce a total hyperactivity index (minimum score = 10, maximum score = 40). the measure takes approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Kendall Self Control Rating Scale (SCRS; Kendall & Willcox, 1979)
This is a self-administered parent report measure consisting of a 33-item scale that provides an indication of the degree to which a child's behaviour can be described as self-controlled versus impulsive. The scale is standardised for children aged 3-12 years. Ratings are made along a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (maximum control) to 7 (maximum impulsivity). Of the 33-items 10 describe self-controlled behaviour, 13 describe impulsive behaviour and 10 are worded to suggest both possibilities. The SCRS was designed to measure self control in children, sensitivity to treatment change, correlates of self control, individual variation and the effects of different treatments. The total score is the sum of the 33 items, with a higher score representing a greater lack of self control (minimum score = 33, maximum score = 231). The measure takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.