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Role-play assessments as a measure of skill acquisition in a parenting program

Author

Carolynn A. Steiner, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Scott A. Jensen

First Committee Member

Carolynn Kohn

Second Committee Member

Holly White

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate role-plays assessments with adult role-players as a measure of parents' skill acquisition as taught in the Incredible Years (IY) program. Parent performance during the role-play assessments was compared to parent performance during parent-child interactions. Experiment 1 of this study included role- 6 play assessments for the IY program in a multiple-baseline design across 6 skills with pre and post parent-child interactions. Participants were 7 parents with children between the ages of 2 and 8 years. The parent-child interactions were also scored using the Dyadic Parent Interaction Coding System (DPICS). The effectiveness of the role-play assessments as a measure of skill acquisition as demonstrated by an increase in scores only after the skill is formally taught in the program, and similarity between behavior during the role-play assessments and behavior during the parent-child interactions, was not possible due to lack of data and participant attrition. Using a repeated measures design, Experiment 2 addressed limitations of Experiment 1 by utilizing 4 participants with no involvement in the IY program. Role-play assessments and parent-child interactions were conducted 5 times (1 time per week) with 1 training session for the skill area with the lowest scores across the first 3 baseline sessions during the 41 h observation. Results demonstrated differences between parent behavior with an adult role-player compared to their child with variable responding in both the child and structured and role-play assessments during baseline. Increases were observed during both post-training sessions with increases in the final session for the parent-child interactions for the selected skill area for 3 of the 4 participants. These data suggest that the role-plays are sensitive to detecting behavior change; however, the parents' behavior with an adult role player may differ from behavior with their children.

Pages

119

Recommended Citation

Steiner, Carolynn A.. (2014). Role-play assessments as a measure of skill acquisition in a parenting program. University of the Pacific, Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/862