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Information on Parent Measuring Tools

Psychologists recognize that parents are an important source of information about the emotional health of a child. That's why they use various measuring tools to get input from parents. This input gives them insight into the behavior of the children. Thus, the psychologists can more effectively work with the children.

  1. Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory

    • This measuring tool, developed by Dr. Shiela Eyberg, serves to identify problem behavior in children in the age group of 2 to 16. The tool consists of a series of 36 questions that ask parents about how often certain behaviors occur and whether they pose a problem. This include behaviors such as the child's refusal to eat food, arguing and fighting. Parents respond to questions using a seven-point grading scale that includes responses ranging from "never" to "always."

    Family Pressure Scale

    • This is a tool that psychologists use on parents from minority ethnic backgrounds, designed specifically for such use. This so-called "ethnic tool" consists of 64 questions that require parents to pick a sliding scale response that ranges from "not a problem" to "large problem." The input parents provide is on subjects such as conflict between the parents, the ethnic identity of the child and life changes, such as moving to a new house.

    Family Communication

    • A family problem-solving communication tool gets input from parents about the quality of communications in the family. This tool uses only 10 questions that provide input on both negative and positive communication patterns in the family. Psychologists believe that how families communicate plays a role in how they handle hardships. Parents provide input on negative communications such as yelling and screaming, as well as positive communication, such as whether they stay calm and talk through their problems.

    Parenting Scale

    • Parents of younger children in families with chaotic lives provide input on their parenting practices, which may be dysfunctional, for this parenting scale measuring tool. Although the tool itself is designed for the use of parents with children below the age of 4, psychologists also use it on parents of older children. It measures parenting patterns such as permissive parenting and tendency to overreact. This tool seeks input in the form of a scale. For instance, the responses to a question on "when my child does something I don't like..." range from "I do something about it every time it happens" to "I often let it go."

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