You are here
PARENT-CHILD ATTACHMENT TOOL: CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS
Phone: () -
Email: FISHER@UNR.EDU
DESCRIPTION: The present research is a feasibility study concerning the
development of an assessment tool to measure parent-child attachment in child
custody evaluations. This research aims to provide the mental health and legal
fields with a feasible, economical, efficient, and empirically sound assessment
tool. The concept of the "psychological parent" or parent-child attachment has
become prominent in many states' laws leading mental health professional to
measure the bond between each parent and child. This assessment tool will be
developed using an empirical method of test construction. The goals of this
project include 1) developing test items related to attachment as well as the
inclusion of social desirability and validity scales, 2) evaluating content
validity, 3) evaluating internal consistency reliability, and 4) evaluating
convergent and discriminate validity. During test construction, the items
included will include the domain of attachment, social desirability items,
distracter items, and validity items. Content validity will be established
through expert consultation. Internal consistency reliability will be
calculated. Convergent validity will be ascertained through comparison of the
tool with other assessment devices measuring the same construct. Discriminate
validity will be assessed through the relation of test score to scores on a
school achievement scale and social desirability scale. Phase II studies will
investigate the concurrent and predictive validity of the tool, as well as
increase its ethnic diversity (e.g. development of a Spanish version and
cross-validation). Further Phase II studies will develop instruments to measure
other key constructs (i.e. parenting skills and emotional stability of the
parent, etc.) relevant to making child placement decisions. Reviewer comments
and resultant changes are discussed.
PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE
* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *