The quality of parental responsiveness: A preliminary validation of a new observational measure

Abstract

The quality of parental responsiveness is one of the most influential dimensions in child attachment and is, therefore, the target of many family interventions. The purpose of this pilot study was to provide a preliminary validation of the Parental Responsiveness Quality (PRQ). This new observational measure tries to solve some of the limitations of the most commonly used previous instruments. The analyses were performed on a sample of 50 parent-child dyads. The internal structure was evaluated through an exploratory analysis (cluster analysis), which yielded five clusters. Four of them provided good reliability rates. Interjudge reliability was higher than .90, and the relationship with other variables, such as adult attachment style and parental stress, provides preliminary support for the measure’s criterion validity. The PRQ measure promises to be a valuable tool in the evaluation of the quality of parental responsiveness among families with children between 1 and 6 years of age.