Using Growth Curve Analysis to Examine Challenges in Instrumentation in Longitudinal Measurement in Home Visiting

Abstract

Home visitation programs aim to decrease child maltreatment, yet limited longitudinal data exists concerning their screening and assessment instruments. “At risk” families (N = 2,054) were screened using the Family Stress Checklist and referred to Healthy Families Indiana. The Home Observation Measurement of the Environment Scale (HOME) and Community Life Skills Scale (CLS) were administered at multiple intervals. Growth curve analyses indicate families with lower HOME and CLS scores received more home visits and visits between assessments. However, these instruments may have “ceiling effects” and may be unsuitable for longitudinal assessment and program evaluation. Programmatic changes were made based on evaluation results.

Keywords:

• Child abuse and neglect
• home visitation
• Healthy Families
• growth curve modeling
• cohort study
• Home Observation Measurement of the Environment Scale (HOME)
• Community Life Skills Scale (CLS)
• Family Stress Checklist (FSC)

Notes

The authors would like to thank the Healthy Families Indiana staff for their untiring dedication to preventing child abuse and neglect. We thank our colleagues, past and present, within Datatude, Inc., the UT Health Science Center, and the Houston VA HSR&D Center of Excellence for their support and guidance. We would also like to thank the Indiana Department of Child Services for their commitment to preventing child abuse and neglect. This work was supported in part by the Houston VA HSR&D Center of Excellence (HFP90-020). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston-Downtown, or Healthy Families Indiana.