Treatment motivation is required for virtually all psychosocial treatments because clients must participate actively in the treatment process. In child and family treatments, it is the parent who must be motivated to manage treatment participation; however, no measures are currently available for evaluating parent motivation for treatment. The authors developed and evaluated a brief rating scale, the Parent Motivation Inventory (PMI), to measure parent motivation to participate in treatment. Results supported a uni-dimensional measure with strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Increases in parent motivation predicted the perception of fewer barriers to treatment participation, which was significantly associated with greater treatment attendance. The PMI provides a reliable and valid method of assessing parents’ motivation to participate in treatment and has implications for the prediction and potential modification of barriers to treatment and treatment participation.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was completed at the Yale Child Conduct Clinic (YCCC) and supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health to Matthew K. Nock (MH12923) and Alan E. Kazdin (MH59029). We are extremely grateful to Alan E. Kazdin and the YCCC staff for all of their help and support with this project.
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Nock, M.K., Photos, V. Parent Motivation to Participate in Treatment: Assessment and Prediction of Subsequent Participation. J Child Fam Stud 15, 333–346 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9022-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9022-4