Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition Short Form

Last Updated

May 07, 2017

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Purpose

The PSI-4-SF is a screening tool used to identify parents experiencing high stress due to their parenting role(s).

Upon identification, clinicians can refer them to other services or educate them about available resources in order to prevent excessive parental stress from having a negative impact on the emotional and behavioral development of their child(ren).

Link to Instrument

Instrument Details

Acronym PSI-4-SF

Area of Assessment

Communication
Developmental
Infant & Child Development
Mental Health
Occupational Performance
Quality of Life
Social Relationships
Social Support
Stress & Coping

Assessment Type

Patient Reported Outcomes

Administration Mode

Paper & Pencil

Cost

Not Free

Actual Cost

$152.00

Non-Specific Patient Population

Subscales:
1) Parental Distress (PD): personal factors directly related to parenting
2) Difficult Child (DC): temperament and behavior of the child that influence the parent-child relationship
3) Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interactions (P-CDI): parent’s perception of the child; whether or not expectations are being met, positive behaviors reinforced, etc.
Assessment Characteristics:
1) 36 items (Likert scale and direct response)
2) Standardized
3) Norm-referenced
4) Administration: approx.10 minutes
5) Scoring: approx. 5 minutes
Minimum/Maximum Scores:
1) 12 – 60 in each subscale
2) 36 – 180 total stress score

Number of Items

Ballpoint pen or sharp pencil
Record/Profile forms

10 minutes

Required Training

No Training

18 - 64

years

Instrument Reviewers

Initially reviewed by University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Occupational Therapy Master of Science student Sharon Merritt.

ICF Domain

Activity
Participation

Measurement Domain

Activities of Daily Living
Emotion

Considerations

The PSI-4-SF does not differentiate between causes of stress within each subscale; it is best used as a screening tool rather than a goal/intervention development tool.

Cut-Off Scores

Normative Sample: (Abidin, 2012)

Parental Distress (PD): [40, 60]
Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interactions (P-CDI): [36, 60]
Difficult Child (DC): [40, 60]
Total Stress: [114, 180]
Defensive Responding: < 10

Normative Data

Normative Sample: (Amidin, 2012)

Percentage of Sample by Parent Role

Parent Role	% of Sample
Mother	51
Father	49

Percentage of Sample by Race/Ethnicity of Mother

Race/Ethnicity of Mother	% of Sample
White	66
Black/African-American	14
Hispanic	14
Other	5

Percentage of Sample by Race/Ethnicity of Father

Race/Ethnicity of Father	% of Sample
White	68
Black/African-American	12
Hispanic	16
Other	4

Percentage of Sample by Marital Status of Mother

Marital Status of Mother	% of Sample
Married	61
Divorced	8
Separated	5
Single, never married	23
Widowed	< 1
Other, not specified	4

Percentage of Sample by Marital Status of Father

Marital Status of Father	% of Sample
Married	74
Divorced	8
Separated	2
Single, never married	16
Widowed	0
Other, not specified	< 1

Percentage of Sample by Annual Household Income of Mother

Annual Household Income of Mother	% of Sample
Less than $20,000	15
$20,000 - $59,999	41
$60,000 - $99,999	29
Greater than $100,000	15

Percentage of Sample by Annual Household Income of Father

Annual Household Income of Father	% of Sample
Less than $20,000	7
$20,000 - $59,999	42
$60,000 - $99,999	37
Greater than $100,000	13

Percentage of Sample by Education Level of Mother

Education Level of Mother	% of Sample
Less than high school graduate	16
High school graduate	37
Some college	20
College graduate or higher	28

Percentage of Sample by Education Level of Father

Education Level of Father	% of Sample
Less than high school graduate	17
High school graduate	34
Some college	26
College graduate or higher	22

Note: Normative data were established using the PSI-4; the PSI-4-SF relies on these established data.

Test/Retest Reliability

PSI-SF Normative Sample: (Abidin, 2012)

Test-Retest Coefficients of PSI-SF Subscales

Subscale	Test-Retest Coefficient
Parental Distress	0.85 Good
Difficult Child	0.78 Acceptable
Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction	0.68 Acceptable
Total Stress	0.84 Good

Note. Testing and retesting conditions for the PSI-SF are unknown.

Internal Consistency

Parental Distress: (Abidin, 2012)

Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.90)

Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction: (Abidin, 2012)

Good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89)

Difficult Child: (Abidin, 2012)

Good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.88)

Total Stress: (Abidin, 2012)

Excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.95)

Bibliography

Abidin, R. (2012). Parenting Stress Index: Fourth Edition. Lutz: PAR.

Abidin, R.R., & Wilfong, E. (1989). Parenting stress and its relationship to child health care. Children’s Health Care, 18(2), 114–116.

Anderson, S.B., & Guthery, A.M. (2015). Mindfulness-based psychoeducation for parents of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An applied clinical project. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 28(1), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcap.12103

Touchèque, M., Etienne, A.M., Stassart, C., & Catale, C. (2016). Validation of the French version of the parenting stress index-short form (4th ed.). Journal of Community Psychology, 44(4), 419–425. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21778