Abstract
We report on the development and initial validation of the parent-report scale, Management of Children's Behavior Scale (MCBS), designed to evaluate parenting practices related to conduct problems in children. Children (N=396, ages 2-14) referred for outpatient treatment and their parents served as participants. We evaluated the composition and consistency of the scale and provided evidence pertaining to concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity. Evidence for each type of validity was consistent with the conceptualization of the scale and the pertinence to child conduct problems. The measure also was sensitive to therapeutic changes. Parenting practices targeted in treatment (parent management training) improved as predicted over time. The results suggest the measure may be useful in evaluating parenting practices known to relate to conduct problems and often targeted for intervention in parent- and family-based treatment.
REFERENCES
Abidin, R. R. (1990). Parenting Stress Index: Clinical manual. Charlottesville, VA: Pediatric Psychology Press.
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Arnold, D. S., O'Leary, S. G., Wolff, L. S., & Acker, M. M. (1993). The Parenting Scale: A measure of dysfunctional parenting in discipline situations. Psychological Assessment, 5, 137-144.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psycho-logical research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 53-63.
Bierman, K. L., & Smoot, D. L. (1991). Linking family characteristics with poor peer relations: The mediating role of conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 341-356.
Brenner, V., & Fox, R. A. (1998). Parental discipline and behavior problems in young children. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 159, 251-256.
Brestan, E. V., </del>& Eyberg, S. M. (1998). Effective psychosocial treatment of conduct-disordered children and adolescents: 29 years, 82 studies, 5275 children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 180-189.
Campbell, S. B., March, C. L., Pierce, E. W., Wing, L. J., & Szumowski, E. K. (1991). Hard-to-manage preschool boys: Family context and the stability of externalizing behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 301-318.
Campbell, S. B., Pierce, E. W., Moore, G., Marakovitz, S., & Newby, K. (1996). Boy's externalizing problems at elementary school age: Pathways from early behavior problems, maternal control, and family stress. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 701-719.
Chambers, W. J., Puig-Antich, J., Hirsch, M., Paez, P., Ambrosini, P. J., Tabrizi, M. A., & Davies, M. (1985). The assessment of affective disorders in children and adolescents by semistructured interview: Test-retest reliability of the schedule for affective disorders and Schizophrenia for school-aged children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 696-702.
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487-496.
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., & Kavanagh, K. A. (1992). An experimental test of coercion model: Linking theory, measurement, and intervention. In J. McCord & R. Tremblay (Eds.), The inter-action of theory and practice: Experimental studies of intervention (pp. 253-282). New York: Guilford.
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., Stoolmiller, M., & Skinner, M. L. (1991). Family, school and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology, 27, 172-180.
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1994). Socialization mediators of the relation between socioeconomic status and child conduct problems. Child Development, 65, 649-665.
Dumas, J. E., & Wekerle, C. (1995). Maternal reports of child behavior problems and personal distress as predictors of dysfunctional parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 465-480.
Egeland, B. (1993). A history of abuse is a major risk factor for abusing the next generation. In R. J. Gelles & D. R. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 197-208). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Forgatch, M. S. (1991). The clinical science vortex: A developing theory of antisocial behavior. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 291-316). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Frick, P. J. (1991). The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Unpublished instrument, University of Alabama, Tuscaloasa.
Gerlsma, C., Emmelkamp, P. M., & Arrindell, W. A. (1990). Anxiety, depression, and perception of early parenting: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 251-277.
Harnish, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Valente, E. (1995). Mother-child interaction quality as a partial mediator of the roles of maternal depressive symptomatology and socioeconomic status in the development of child behavior problems. Child Development, 66, 739-753.
Holden, G. W., & Edwards, L. A. (1989). Parental attitudes toward child rearing: Instruments, issues, and implications. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 29-58.
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four-factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University, Department of Sociology.
Holmbeck, G. N. (2002). Post-hoc probing of significant moderational and mediational effects in studies of pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 87-96.
Irvine, A. B., Biglan, A., Smolkowski, K., Metzler, C. W., & Ary, D. V. (1999). The effectiveness of a parenting skills program for parents of middle school students in small communities. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 811-825.
Kazdin, A. E. (1995). Conduct disorder in childhood and adolescence (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kazdin, A. E. (1997). Parent management training: Evidence, outcomes, and issues. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 1349-1356.
Kazdin, A. E. (2001). Treatment of conduct disorders. In J. Hill & B. Maughan (Eds.), Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp. 408-448). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Kazdin, A. E. (2003). Problem-solving skills training and parent management training for conduct disorder. In A. E. Kazdin & J. R. Weisz (Eds.), Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents (pp. 241-262). New York: Guilford.
Kazdin, A. E., & Esveldt-Dawson, K. (1986). The Interview for Antisocial Behavior: Psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity with child psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Psychopathol-ogy and Behavioral Assessment, 8, 289-303.
Kazdin, A. E., Holland, L., & Crowley, M. (1997). Family experience of barriers to treatment and premature termination from child therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 453-463.
Kazdin, A. E., Mazurick, J. L., & Bass, D. (1993). Risk for attrition in treatment of antisocial children and families. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 2-16.
Kazdin, A. E., & Rogers, A. (1985). Management of Children's Behavior Scale, Pittsburgh, PA: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Kazdin, A. E., Siegel, T., & Bass, D. (1992). Cognitive problem-solving skills training and parent management training in the treatment of antisocial behavior in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 733-747.
Kazdin, A. E., & Wassell, G. (2000). Therapeutic changes in children, parents, and families resulting from treatment of children with conduct problems. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 414-420.
Locke, L. M., & Prinz, R. J. (2002). Measures of parental discipline and nurturance. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 895-929.
Milner, J. S. (1986). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Manual (2nd ed.). Webster, NC: Psytech.
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Reid, J. B., Patterson, G. R., & Snyder, J. (Eds.). (2002). Antisocial behavior in children and ado-lescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Reitman, D., Currier, R. O., Hupp, S. D. A., Rhode, P. C., Murphy, M. A., & O'Callaghan, M. O. (2001). Psychometric characteristics of the Parenting Scale in a head start population. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 514-524.
Robins, L. N. (1981). Epidemiological approaches to natural history research: Antisocial disorders in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 566-680.
Robins, L. N., & Rutter, M. (Eds.). (1990). Straight and devious pathways fromchildhood to adulthood. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Stoff, D. M., Breiling, J., & Maser, J. D. (Eds.). (1997). Handbook of antisocial behavior. NewYork: Wiley.
Stormshak, E. A., Bierman, K. L., McMahon, R. J., & Lengua, L. J. (2000). Parenting practices and child disruptive problems in early elementary school. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1, 17-29.
Straus, M. A. (1992). Manual for the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, S. L. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Taylor, T. K., & Biglan, A. (1998). Behavioral parenting skills programs: A review of the literature for clinicians. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, 41-60.
Webster-Stratton, C. (1997). From parent training to community building. Families in Society, 78, 156-171.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perepletchikova, F., Kazdin, A.E. Assessment of Parenting Practices Related to Conduct Problems: Development and Validation of the Management of Children's Behavior Scale. Journal of Child and Family Studies 13, 385–403 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCFS.0000044723.45902.70
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCFS.0000044723.45902.70