Review of Instruments Assessing Parenting Competencies used in Child Custody Evaluations

Abstract

The following instruments of parenting capacity that are currently used in child custody evaluations are reviewed: The Ackerman–Schoendorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT), the Bricklin Perceptual Scales and Perception of Relationships Test, the Child Abuse Potential Inventory, the Parent–Child Relationship Inventory, and the Parenting Stress Index. Each instrument is described, as well as research on the measure's norms, reliability, validity, and generalizability. The measures are discussed with regard to their approach in assessing parental effectiveness and principles of test construction.

Translation and Validation of the Chinese Version of Parent–Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI-C) in Hong Kong

“…This measure is useful in Education and Psychology particularly in clinical settings and custody evaluations (see also Coffman, Guerin, and Gottfried 2006), and the PCRI was originally validated involving parents from four major geographical regions in the United States -Northeast, South, Midwest, and West (Gerard 1994). Further validation studies were conducted to check the applicability of the original English version of this measure (i.e., Boothroyd 1998;Coffman, Guerin, and Gottfried 2006;Heinze and Grisso 1996;Marchant and Paulson 1998). However, to our knowledge, there has been no attempt to translate the original English version of PCRI into another language familiar to any Asian group of participants.…”

“…Items with negative stems were reversed coded. The PSI Short Form (PSI/SF) Chinese version is an abridged version of the 120-item test designed to evaluate the extent to which parents experience stress in their childrearing experiences (Heinze and Grisso 1996). All 36 items in the Short Form are contained in the Long Form covering subscales: parental distress (e.g., "I feel that I cannot handle things", 12 items), parent-child dysfunctional interaction (e.g., "Child rarely does things for me", 12 items) and difficult child (e.g., "Child cries or fusses more often than other children", 12 items).…”

“…The PCRI has been validated and widely used in the western world (see Boothroyd 1998;Coffman et al 2006;Heinze and Grisso 1996;Marchant and Paulson 1998). There remains a lack of empirical research into the psychometric properties of this instrument in the Asian context (i.e., Hong Kong).…”

Interpersonal maladjustment as predictor of mothers’ response to a relational parenting intervention

“…Scores of 9 and below on the Social Desirability Scale suggest that a subject is trying to appear to be an excellent parent. Adequate psychometric properties have been reported for the PCRI (Gerard, 1994;Heinze & Grisso, 1996), and for this sample, CronbachTs alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged between .61 and .80, with a median of .77.…”

Mental health workers’ and legal professionals’ perception and experience of the family advocate system

“…Even tests specifically compiled for custody cases elicit criticism (e.g. Galatzer-Levy and Kraus, 1999;Heinze and Grisso, 1996). Against this background experts such as Melton et al (1997), even recommend on the one hand that psychometric tests and techniques should not be used in custody cases.…”