Assessing parent--child interaction in the preschool years: A pilot study on the psychometric properties of the toddler CARE-Index.
The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the Toddler CARE-Index, an assessment tool for parent-child interaction among preschool-aged children, for screening of parental sensitivity. The CARE-Index was initially developed for infants and had been adapted for toddlers up to 3 years of age. This study tests its utility for children up to 5.8 years old. Sixty-four children (2.3 to 5.8 years) and their mothers took part in the study and were examined with both the Toddler CARE-Index and the Preschool Assessment of Attachment. The sample comprised two groups, a sample that had come to professional attention (n = 21) and a normative sample (n = 43). Analysis of coder agreement showed adequate correspondence among three coders. Test-retest reliability was less robust. Testing validity, there was a significant relation between sensitivity of the mother and attachment security of the child in the total sample as well as in both subsamples. These results are a first step for using the Toddler CARE-Index as an economical and promising instrument for the assessment of parental sensitivity with children beyond toddlerhood in both normative and clinical settings.
Künster
Anne Katrin
AK
Ulm University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ulm, Germany. anne-katrin.kuenster@uniklinik-ulm.de
Fegert
Jörg Michael
JM
Ziegenhain
Ute
U
D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004493:Education; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D015588:Observer Variation; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019962:Reactive Attachment Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results