Parent Opinion Questionnaire and Child Vignettes for Use with Abusive Parents: Assessment of Psychometric Properties

• NCJ Number: 216192
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 137-151
• Author(s): Mary E. Haskett; Susan Smith Scott; Michael Willoughby; Lisa Ahern; Kennard Nears
• Date Published: February 2006
• Length: 15 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study assessed the psychometric properties of two assessment instruments designed to measure parenting attitudes of abusive parents and parents at risk for abuse--the Parent Opinion Questionnaire (POQ) and the Child Vignettes (CV).

Abstract

Results revealed that scores on the POQ were very low and there no differences between the abusive and comparison parents on any of the six scales of the POQ. The internal consistency of the POQ was poor and the full scale scores on the POQ were unrelated to observed parenting behavior. On the other hand, scores for abusive parents on the CV indicated more negative attributions and harsher intended punishment for children’s aversive behavior than scores for the comparison parents. Moreover, on the CV, negative attribution ratings and intended punishment ratings were associated with parental psychopathology and parenting stress while scores on intended punishment were associated with parents’ perceptions of their children’s adjustment, self-reported disciplinary practices, and observed negative parenting behavior. The findings do not support the use of the individual POQ scales and, in fact, call into question the concurrent validity of the POQ scales. The authors suggest that measures of parenting cognitions should be validated in future research on the basis of specific parenting decisions that are made in situations similar to situations included on the measures. Participants were 77 abusive parents and 78 comparison parents who were recruited over a 4-year period for a large-scale study. The abusive parents had a documented history of physical abuse within 12 months of data collection. All parents completed the POQ and the CV and their parenting behavior was coded from videotapes using the Qualitative Ratings of Parent-Child Interactions. Parents’ intellectual functioning, emotional health, and perceptions of child adjustment were also measured. Data analysis involved the use of a series of t-tests and bivariate correlations. Future analyses should investigate the convergent validity of both the POQ and the CV. Tables, references