To link to this article: http://dx. SYNOPSISObjective. This study examines psychometric properties of 2 scales of the Parenting Stress Index -Short Form (PSI -SF) in a sample of preschool children from low-income families. Design. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Parental Distress and Parent -Child Dysfunctional Interaction subscales were assessed for 1122 Early Head Start parents of 15-(n = 959), 25-(n = 899), and 37-month-old (n = 845) children in a multisite study. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) compared the fit of 2-factor scales that are recommended by the developer with theoretically derived 5-factor scales. Results. CFA indicated that the 5-factor scales fit the data better than the 2-factor scales. Both 2-and 5-factor scales had high internal consistency, and the pattern of relations between the new scales and validity constructs support their usefulness. Conclusions. The PSI -SF scales can be helpful in clinical applications because the proposed scales clarify relations between parent and child outcomes and specific aspects of stress due to parenting.

No abstract

Grandparents or other relatives are raising over 2.7 million children in the United States; and research suggests that the birth parents of these children maintain varying levels of involvement with them and their relative caregivers. However, the impact of parental involvement on children's developmental outcomes remains largely unexplored. This study sought to understand the role of maternal and paternal involvement (each parent's contact with the caregiver, contact with the child, friendliness to the caregiver, and quality of relationship with the child) on competence levels of African American children in informal kinship care. Exploring these relationships are pivotal, especially given the various psychosocial benefits associated with social and academic competence. Findings from the SEM analysis suggest that paternal involvement in informal kinship care is a significant predictor of competence among this sample of African American children. Maternal involvement only revealed a positive trend with competence; however the quality of the mothers' relationship with children was associated with children's competence levels. Implications for future research and social work practice are discussed.

Qualitative responses to a survey of 314 social work faculty from nearly half of the graduate schools of social work (MSW programs) in the United States elucidated valuable information about culturally sensitive social work education. This article explores faculty perceptions of the deficits or MSW programs in preparing students for culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos. While nearly 90% of social work MSW faculty agreed or strongly agreed that it is important to prepare students for work with this population, many perceive that their programs are not currently able to do so adequately. Faculty opinions concerning the nature of the deficits and ways of remedying said deficits are discussed.

No abstract