the item content and the three scales have broad
applicability.
The PSS has been refined and validated through
large-scale studies on both national and international
populations. This standardized instrument can be
useful in a variety of situations where individual
emotional health is assessed or when parenting or
coparenting relationships are the subject of study. For
example, court personnel may find it useful when
examining the quality of parent-child interactions prior
to custody determination or following parenting edu-
cation interventions. School psychologists may find
PSS information useful in understanding the etiology
of children’s school problems.John Louis GuidubaldiSee also Divorce and Child Custody; Parent-Child Relationship
Inventory (PCRI); Parenting Stress Index (PSI)Further Readings
Guidubaldi, J., & Cleminshaw, H. K. (1994). Manual for the
Parenting Satisfaction Scale.San Antonio, TX:
Psychological Corporation.
Guidubaldi, J., & Cleminshaw, H. K. (1985). The development
of the Cleminshaw-Guidubaldi Parent Satisfaction Scale.
Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 14,293–298.
Guidubaldi, J., Perry, J., & Cleminshaw, H. K. (1984). The
legacy of parental divorce. In B. B. Lahey & A. E. Kazdin
(Eds.),Advances in clinical child psychology(Vol. 7,
pp. 109–147). New York: Plenum Press.PARENTINGSTRESSINDEX(PSI)
The Parenting Stress Index (PSI), developed by
Richard Abidin in 1976, is a screening and diagnostic
assessment tool commonly used to measure the mag-
nitude of stress in the parent-child system. Abidin
describes several potential uses of the PSI including
screening for the early identification of parenting
and family characteristics that fail to produce normal
development and functioning in children, identifying
children with behavioral and emotional problems, and
screening for parents who are at risk for dysfunctional
parenting. Abidin has also suggested that the PSI
would be useful as a measure of intervention effec-
tiveness and in clinical research. In recent years, the
PSI has been used frequently in research investigating
child maltreatment and its sequelae.Description and Development
The development of the PSI has been influenced by
changes in theoretical models specifying the determi-
nants of dysfunctional parenting. Early formulations
of the model emphasized “stress” as the central con-
struct leading to dysfunctional parenting. By 1982, a
more complex model had emerged. Research revealed
that stress and dysfunctional parenting were not
related in linear fashion. Instead, child characteristics,
parent characteristics, family contact, and life stres-
sors all appeared to contribute to the functioning of
the parent-child system. The parenting stress con-
struct had become more complex and multifaceted.
In recent years, research has revealed that stress
in the parenting system, especially within the first 3
years of life, is critical to the child’s emotional/
behavioral development and the parent-child relation-
ship. Moreover, parenting stressors are additive and
include objective events such as the death of a family
member, as well as more subjective experiences of
parental social isolation and concerns about a child’s
potential to achieve developmental milestones.
In 1995, the PSI was revised to improve scoring
ease and to introduce a short form of the measure. The
standard PSI is a 120-item self-report inventory with
an optional 19-item Life Stress Scale. There are six
Child Domain subscales (Distractibility/Hyperactivity,
Adaptability, Reinforces Parent, Demandingness,
Mood, and Acceptability) and seven Parent Domain
subscales (Competence, Isolation, Attachment, Health,
Role Restriction, Depression, and Spouse). Subscale
scores are combined to generate the Parent Domain,
Child Domain, and Total Stress factors. Parents of
children as young as 1 month and as old as 12 years
may complete the measure.Administration and Scoring
The PSI can be administered and scored by individu-
als without professional training, but interpretation of
the measure should involve an individual with graduate-
level training in tests and measurement. Most
parents complete the questionnaire in about 20 min-
utes, though no time limit is given. Respondents are
asked to read the instructions on the first page of the
item booklet and then respond to each item by circling
SA (strongly agree), A (agree), NS (not sure), D (dis-
agree), or SD (strongly disagree) on the answer sheet.
The respondent’s answers are recorded on the scoring
sheet via carbon transfer (if the EZ score form is540 ———Parenting Stress Index (PSI)P-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 540