The reaction to diagnosis questionnaire: a preliminary validation of a new self-report measure to assess parents’ resolution of their child’s diagnosis

ABSTRACT

Parents’ resolution of their child’s diagnosis is associated with parental sensitivity and secure child attachment. The Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI) is the accepted measure for assessing resolution, but its administration and coding are time and labor intensive. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Reaction to Diagnosis Questionnaire (RDQ), a new self-report measure that assesses resolution. 75 mothers of children diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy or Developmental Delay completed the RDI and the RDQ and reported on family characteristics. The RDQ showed good internal consistency. Mothers who were classified as resolved using the RDI had higher RDQ scores compared with mothers who were classified as unresolved. The networks of associations of the RDI and the RDQ with family characteristics were similar, although formal equivalence testing could not be performed. The RDQ may be a promising time- and cost-effective tool. Nevertheless, more research is needed to further establish its validity.

KEYWORDS:

• Resolution of child’s diagnosis
• reaction to diagnosis interview
• reaction to diagnosis questionnaire
• cerebral palsy
• developmental delay

Acknowledgments

We express our sincere gratitude to the mothers who participated in this research. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.