PSI-4

Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition

Details

Purpose

Identifies parent–child problem areas

Authors

Richard R. Abidin, EdD

Administration Formats

Print
Digital

Additional Details

Designed to Evaluate the Magnitude of Stress in the Parent–Child System

The fourth edition of the popular PSI is a 120-item inventory that focuses on three major domains of stress: child characteristics, parent characteristics, and situational/demographic life stress. 

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Features and benefits

  • Self-report inventory features 120 questions for parents of children ages 1 month to 12 years.
  • Commonly used as a diagnostic or screening measure to evaluate the parenting system. 
  • Helps identify at-risk or problem areas in the child's or parent's behavior. 
  • Short Form is approved by TRICARE’s Autism Care Demonstration (ACD) program.
  • Two domain scores and 13 subscales facilitate both treatment planning in relation to problem areas and the evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions. 
  • Useful in family system evaluations such as custody evaluations or at-risk for dysfunctional parenting. 
  • Major enhancements in this revision include: improved cultural sensitivity of item language, increased internal consistency of scales, the addition of age-based norms at the domain and subscale level, enhanced factor loading of items on scales, the addition of T scores to enhance interpretation, and a new normative sample that includes fathers
  • Has been translated into more than 30 languages and maintains its factor structure and predictive abilities. 
  • Expanded norms are organized by each year of a child's age. T scores are provided, but percentiles remain the primary interpretive framework. 
  • A Defensive Responding subscale indicates whether the parent is presenting a "minimizing" or "look good" bias to their responses. 
  • Validation studies conducted within a variety of foreign populations, including Chinese, Portuguese, French Canadian, Finnish, and Dutch, suggest that the PSI is a robust measure that maintains its validity with diverse non-English-speaking cultures.
  • Scoring and reporting are available in PARiConnect.
  • The PSI-4 PARiConnect Quick Start Kit includes the PSI-4 e-Manual,10 i-Admins, and 10 interpretive reports bundled together to get you started on PARiConnect quickly.

Reports on PARiConnect

  • The PSI-4 Interpretive Report contains a percentile profile, a T-score profile, a score summary table, a validity analysis, a scale-by-scale interpretation of the protocol, a list of possible diagnoses for the child, and intervention recommendations.
  • The PSI-4 Score Report contains a percentile profile, a T-score profile, a score summary table, and a table of item responses.

Short form available

PSI-4-SF is an abbreviated version of the full-length PSI-4 that takes about 10 minutes to complete. One simple form contains everything you need for administering the measure and for scoring and profiling results. It's ideal for use in schools, mental health clinics, and research. The PSI-4-SF Record/Profile Form is also available in Spanish.

  • The PSI-4-SF Interpretive Report contains a profile, a score summary table, a scale-by-scale interpretation of the protocol, and a list of possible diagnoses for the child.
  • The PSI-4-SF Score Report contains a percentile profile, a T-score profile, a score summary table, and a table of item responses.
  • The PSI-4-SF Record/Profile Form has been translated into U.S. Spanish. This product uses English norms only.

To learn more about the PSI-4, visit the PAR Training and watch a video presentation given by the author!

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    Photo of Parenting Stress Index ™ , Fourth Edition
    Age Range 0 years to 12 years
    Admin Time 20 minutes
    Qualification Level S

    Shop by Bundled Kits

    PSI-4 Introductory Kit

    10265-KT
    $379.00
    10265-KT
    What's Included

    PSI-4 PARiConnect Quick Start Kit

    Includes 10 PSI-4 i-Admins and 10 PSI-4 Interpretive Reports.

    Learn more about e-Manuals and e-Stimulus Books. Each are limited to a single user and device.

    12056-QK
    $199.00
    12056-QK
    What's Included

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    FAQs

    What is the technical information for the PSI-4?

    Technical Information

    • Normative data were collected from a sample of 534 mothers and 522 fathers stratified to match the demographic composition of the 2007 U.S. Census.
    • Coefficient alpha reliability coefficients based on the responses of individuals in the normative sample ranged from .78 to .88 for Child Domain subscales and from .75 to .87 for Parent Domain subscales.
    • Reliability coefficients for the two domains and the Total Stress scale were .96 or greater, indicating a high degree of internal consistency for these measures.
    • Test-retest reliability coefficients, obtained through several studies, ranged from .55 to .82 for the Child Domain, from .69 to .91 for the Parent Domain, and from .65 to .96 for the Total Stress score.
    • Validity has been investigated in studies that focused on at-risk children, attachment, ADHD, child abuse, forensic contexts, medical treatment adherence, substance abuse, parental depression, and more.

    Test structure

    Two domains, Child and Parent, combine to form the Total Stress scale. The Life Stress scale provides information about the amount of parent stress caused by factors outside the parent-child relationship.

    • Within the Child Domain, six subscales (Distractibility/Hyperactivity, Adaptability, Reinforces Parent, Demandingness, Mood, and Acceptability) evaluate sources of stress as gathered from the parent’s report of child characteristics.
    • Within the Parent Domain, seven subscales (Competence, Isolation, Attachment, Health, Role Restriction, Depression, and Spouse/Parenting Partner Relationship) measure sources of stress related to parent characteristics.

    Is the PSI-4 approved by TRICARE’s Autism Care Demonstration (ACD) program?

    The Parenting Stress Index™, Fourth Edition Short Form is approved by TRICARE.  Under the Autism Care Demonstration (ACD), every six months, applied behavior analysis (ABA) providers must submit PSI-4-SF scores for all enrolled beneficiaries, ages 12 years and 11 months and younger. PSI-4-SF scores are not part of the treatment planning process; however, ABA providers can use these scores to identify available resources and enhance the overall support provided to families of beneficiaries diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

    Also approved is the SIPA for individuals ages 11 years through 19 years and 11 months. For beneficiaries ages 11-12 years at the time of authorization/reauthorization, either the PSI-4-SF or SIPA will be accepted.

    The PDDBI and the  SRS-2 are also part of the Autism Care Demonstration program.