Positive parenting assessment in 4 year old children

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to provide a comprehensive model for assessing family context and to explore the reliability and factor structure of the Haezi Etxadi-Family Assessment Scale (HE-FAS 4), an exhaustive measure covering variables related to family context influencing child development, described over the past two decades. A sample of 346 Spanish families (51.5% girls; M = 4.47; years old; SD = 0.91) completed the instrument, along with the McCarthy Scales. The psychometric evaluation revealed that the HE-FAS 4 showed a good fit, good reliability (alpha values of between .62 and 80), good stability and predictive validity. The FCA confirmed a four subscales structure: Stimulation of cognitive and linguistic development, Stimulation of social and emotional development, Parental context and Organization of the social context and physical environment. Potential uses of the measure for family assessment in several settings are discussed along with its implications for evidence based policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Family assessment
• positive parenting
• Child development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universidad delo País Vasco /Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea: [grant number Doctoral Grant 262/2011] Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-PI09/00090 incl. FEDER funds).

Notes on contributors

Manuel Sánchez de Miguel

Manuel Sánchez de Miguel, PhD in Psychology and Lecturer at the Department of Basic Psychological Processes and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU. Member of the Research Group Haezi-Etxadi UPV/EHU and of the Research Group “Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development” at the Biodonostia Health Research Institute.

Patxi Baigorri Zia

PatxiBaigorri Zia, PhD in Psychology and Associate Lecturer at the Departement of Basic Psychological Process and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country. Researcher in the field of family context, cognitive development and positive parenting. He has been working in psychotherapy and Mindfulness for adults since 2014.

Florencia B. Barreto

Florencia B. Barreto, PhD. Postdoctoral researcher of the Haezi-Etxadi research group at the Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country, and a collaborating researcher of the Environmental Epidemiology and Child Development group at the Biodonostia Health Research Institute. Her research interests are focus on identifying protective and risk factors of family context and its influence on children's cognitive development and self-regulation, both in typical and social vulnerablefamilies.

Loreto Santa-Marina

Loreto Santa-Marina, Bsc in Pharmacy by the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and Msc in Public and Environmental Health by the Free University of Brussels (Belgium). She works in the Subdirectorate of Public Health of Gipuzkoa (Spain). She has an extensive research experience on the effects of diverse contaminants in human health, with a special focus in children's neurodevelopment and actively participates in several research projects.

Enrique B. Arranz-Freijo

Enrique B. Arranz-Freijo, PhD. Is Professor of Family and Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology in the University of the Basque Country. Director of the Haezi research group belonging to the Basque Net of Science and Innovation. His research interest is focus on family context and child development. He has worked for the Basque Government and Spanish Government designing positive parenting policies.