Video-based assessment and rating of parent-child interaction within the national educational panel study

Abstract

There is strong evidence that the learning opportunities offered in familial learning environments have a long-lasting impact on children’s development and educational career. As one of only a few large-scale longitudinal studies, the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) Starting Cohort 1—Newborns is taking up the challenge of direct assessment of parent-child interaction in familial learning environments. This article describes how this assessment was developed, comparing existing observational designs and instruments with regard to their large-scale practicability and utility for the NEPS. To gain reliable data on parent-child interaction, we apply the following procedure: (1) an overt, non-participant field observation of parent-child interaction embedded in a semi-standardized play situation, which is videotaped, and (2) an analysis of the videotaped parent-child interaction using a macroanalytic rating instrument adapted from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). We illustrate the general practicability and reliability of this assessment with results from the first pilot study (N = 466). We point out potential pitfalls in implementing this approach by discussing the results of different in-depth analyses. Finally, we detail the resulting adaptations in the assessment and rating of parent-child interaction for the first main study (N = 3,481).