Early Parent-Child Interaction Assessment Techniques

Abstract

The article reviews the scales for assessing early parent-child interaction which can be predictive in terms of the child’s behavioural, cognitive and motor skills. We describe the most common surveys used in the studies of parental behaviour and attitudes. The scales for expert assessment of early parent-child interaction are presented according to the following scheme: a set of characteristics of the investigated behavior; specifics of organizing the interaction; features of evaluation. Then we focus on the difficulties of using the rating scales as such among which are, for instance: the absence of normal rates for the Russian sample of subjects; difficulties with ensuring objective outcomes of expertise; the possibility of socially desired behaviour; significant time and financial resources required for these studies. But in many ways the parent-child interaction rating scales are an important and informative tool for exploring interactions from a number of perspectives.

Keywords

• parent-child interaction
• early intervention
• rating scales
• observation method
• parent-child relationships
• cognitive development