Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;22(3):367-387.
doi: 10.1007/s10567-019-00276-2.

Psychometric Properties of Parent Outcome Measures Used in RCTs of Antenatal and Early Years Parent Programs: A Systematic Review

Sarah L Blower  1 , Nicole Gridley  2   3 , Abby Dunn  2 , Tracey Bywater  2 , Zoe Hindson  2 , Maria Bryant  4
Affiliations

Psychometric Properties of Parent Outcome Measures Used in RCTs of Antenatal and Early Years Parent Programs: A Systematic Review

Sarah L Blower et al. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Parenting programs are effective in the early intervention and treatment of children's social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. However, inconsistency in the use of outcome measures limits the comparability of programs and creates challenges for practitioners seeking to monitor progress of families in their care. A systematic review was conducted to identify measures, appraise their psychometric properties and ease of implementation, with the overall objective of recommending a small battery of measures for use by researchers and practitioners. This article provides an overview of the most commonly used measures in experimental evaluations of parenting programs delivered to parents of children up to, and including, the age of 5 years (including antenatal programs). An in-depth appraisal of the psychometric properties and ease of implementation of parent outcome measures is also presented (findings in relation to child and dyadic outcome measures are presented elsewhere). Following a systematic search, 64 measures were identified as being used in three or more of 279 included evaluation studies. Data on the psychometric properties of 18 parent outcome measures were synthesised from 87 development and validation studies. Whilst it was not possible to identify a definitive battery of recommended measures, we are able to recommend specific measures that could be prioritised in further research and development and hold promise for those seeking to monitor the outcomes of parents and children in receipt of parenting programs.

Keywords: COSMIN; Outcome measures; Parenting; Psychometric properties; Systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of article retrievals for Search 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Flowchart of article retrievals for the 18 parent outcome measures reviewed
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abidin R. Parenting Stress Index (3rd Ed): Professional manual. Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources; 1995.
    1. Abubakar A, Fischer R. The factor structure of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire in a literate Kenyan population. Stress and Health. 2012;28:248–254. - PubMed
    1. Arney F, Rogers H, Baghurst P, Sawyer M, Prior M. The reliability and validity of the Parenting Scale for Australian mothers of preschool-aged children. Australian Journal of Psychology. 2008;60:44–52.
    1. Arnold DS, O’Leary SG, Wolff LS, Acker MM. The Parenting Scale: A measure of dysfunctional parenting in discipline situations. Psychological Assessment. 1993;5:137–144.
    1. Atkins R. Validation of the center for epidemiological studies depression scale in black single mothers. Journal of Nursing Measures. 2014;22:511–524. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types