title: The Family Socialization Interview-Revised (FSI-R): a Comprehensive Assessment of Parental Disciplinary Behaviors.
abstract: Elucidating the complex mechanisms by which harsh parenting increases risk of child psychopathology is key to targeted prevention. This requires nuanced methods that capture the varied perceptions and experiences of diverse families. The Family Socialization Interview-Revised (FSI-R), adapted from an interview developed by Dodge et al. (Child Development, 65, 649-665, 1994), is a comprehensive, semi-structured interview for characterizing methods of parental discipline used with young children. The FSI-R coding system systematically rates parenting style, usual discipline techniques, and most intense physical and psychological discipline based on rater judgment across two eras: (1) birth to the previous year, and (2) the previous year to present. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the FSI-R in a diverse, high-risk community sample of 386 mothers and their children, ages 3 to 6 years. Interrater reliability was good to excellent for codes capturing physically and psychologically harsh parenting, and restrictive/punitive parenting styles. Findings supported the FSI-R's convergent and incremental validity. Importantly, the FSI-R demonstrated incremental utility, explaining unique variance in children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms beyond that explained by traditional surveys and observed parenting. The FSI-R appeared particularly promising for capturing risk associated with young children's depressive symptoms, as these were generally not significantly associated with other measures of harsh parenting. Overall, findings support the added value of the FSI-R within a multi-method assessment of disciplinary practices across early child development. Future implications for prevention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: O'Dor
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Damion J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forbes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.|The Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wakschlag
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA. MBriggsGowan@uchc.edu.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Briggs-Gowan
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D011678:Punishment; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Discipline; Family Socialization Interview—Revised; Parenting; Reliability; Validity