Description

The Parent’s Report [PA] is an assessment approach based on parents’ observations and reports concerning their child’s development and behavior.

Parents can provide valuable information because they observe their children across a range of everyday situations and over extended periods of time. Systematic parent reporting can therefore contribute information about different aspects of a child’s developmental progress and behavioral functioning.

Parent-reported information may also be considered alongside other sources of assessment data to provide a broader understanding of the child.

Objective

The primary objective of the Parent’s Report [PA] is to provide a comprehensive picture of the child’s development and behavior through parents’ observations and experiences.

The information obtained can help researchers and professionals identify potential difficulties or areas requiring further investigation and, where appropriate, contribute to the development of intervention strategies.

The Parent’s Report can also support the examination of how factors such as the family environment and educational practices relate to a child’s development.

Data Analysis and Use

Analysis of Parent’s Report data involves the processing and interpretation of parents’ responses.

Descriptive statistical methods can be used to summarize the collected data, while correlational analyses may be applied to examine relationships among different variables relevant to child development and behavior.

Comparative analyses may also be conducted to investigate differences between groups of children, including groups based on characteristics such as age or gender.

The specific analytical procedures should be selected according to the objectives, research questions, and characteristics of the study.

Applications

Parent-report assessment can be applied in developmental, psychological, educational, and behavioral research where information about children’s functioning is required.

It can provide useful information about children’s behavior and development in everyday contexts and may be considered together with other assessment sources, depending on the design of the research or evaluation.

Parent-reported information may also contribute to understanding the potential influence of family and educational factors on children’s developmental and behavioral outcomes.

Psychometric Evaluation

The calibration and evaluation of the Parent’s Report [PA] are intended to ensure that the instrument provides reliable and valid results.

This process may involve testing the questionnaire in population samples and applying statistical techniques to examine the reliability and validity of its items. Based on these analyses, modifications or improvements may be introduced to support the accuracy and representativeness of the measurements.

When an assessment instrument is used with different populations, its psychometric properties should be evaluated within the specific population and context in which it is being applied.

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.

Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Integrative Guide for the 1991 CBCL/4–18, YSR, and TRF Profiles. University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

Doyle, A. E., & Biederman, J. (2003). Convergence between the Achenbach Youth Self-Report and the Parent-Report for diagnosing ADHD. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(1), 102–109.

Rescorla, L. A., & Achenbach, T. M. (2004). The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for ages 18 to 90 years. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcomes Assessment (3rd ed., pp. 105–138). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Achenbach, T. M., Dumenci, L., & Rescorla, L. A. (2003). DSM-oriented and empirically based approaches to constructing scales from the same item pools. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32(3), 328–340.