PCIT Behavioral Coding System
Abstract: This measure is an adapted version of the Behavioral Coding System (BCS; Forehand & McMahon, 1981) and consists of 45 items. The BCS is employed during the Parent-Child Interaction Task (PCIT), which occurs in the home during the summer interview. The child interviewer serves as the observer and the parent interviewer organizes the session. The PCIT is comprised of four separate segments, which occur in the following sequence: Child's Game, Parent's Game, Lego Task, and Clean-Up. Both parent behaviors and child behaviors are recorded during each task by the child interviewer; the amount of time for each task and the total time are also recorded and used in the scoring of the subscales. BCS is used to analyze the Parent-Child Interaction Task. Three parent behaviors (total commands, positive attention, and negative attention) and two child behaviors (compliance and noncompliance) are recorded sequentially in 30-second intervals for each task. In addition, there is an interval-sampling measure of child inappropriate or disruptive behavior (whining, biting, profanity, etc.). Subscale scores are the proportion of the totals of each rated behavior across the four tasks divided by the total length of the session. Also, one other score, called alpha commands, is based on the total number of commands a parent gives. Analysts should note that only one subscale (total commands) had a fairly normal distribution. Two subscales were highly and positively skewed for both the normative and control samples: total negative attention and total disruptive behavior. The other subscales were slightly and positively skewed for both samples. Two items were fairly normally distributed for both samples: total commands for Lego Task and total commands total. Four other items were fairly normally distributed for the normative sample: alpha commands for Lego Task, alpha commands for Clean-Up, beta commands for Lego Task, and compliance for Lego Task. Total commands for Clean-Up was fairly normally distributed for the control sample. Only three items indicated a negative skewness: time or Lego Task--normative sample only, time for Clean-Up-both samples, and total time-both samples. The rest of the items were positively skewed in both samples. Several items were highly skewed for both samples: negative attention for Child's Game, negative attention for Parent's Game, negative attention for Lego Task, negative attention for Clean-Up, noncompliance for Child's Game, noncompliance for Parent's Game, noncompliance for Clean-Up, inappropriate behavior for Child's Game, inappropriate behavior for Parent's Game, inappropriate behavior for Lego Task, and inappropriate behavior total. In other words, parents and children both tended to display more positive attention, less negative attention, more compliance, less noncompliance, and less disruptive behavior during the 4 tasks of the Parent-Child Interaction Task.
Who Completed this Measure?: Observer
Cohort 1 - Administrative History
- Year 01 | K | age 6
- Year 02 | grade 1 | age 7
- Year 03 | grade 2 | age 8
Cohort 2 - Administrative History
- Year 01 | K | age 6
- Year 02 | grade 1 | age 7
- Year 03 | grade 2 | age 8
Cohort 3 - Administrative History
- Year 01 | K | age 6
- Year 02 | grade 1 | age 7
- Year 03 | grade 2 | age 8
Raw Dataset Name: OyE
Scored Dataset Name: BCSySOc
Keywords:
Behavior Patterns, Compliance, Parent-Child Communication, Positive Parenting, Punishment
Is this Measure Available for Public Use?: Yes
Obtain Measure:
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SAS Code for Scale Creation:
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Measure Items and Scales:
Scored Dataset Contents
| TCID | 4-DIGIT TCID NUMBER |
| COHORT | COHORT NUMBER |
| O3E1 | TOTAL COMMANDS FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E2 | TOTAL COMMANDS FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E3 | TOTAL COMMANDS FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E4 | TOTAL COMMANDS FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E5 | TOTAL COMMANDS TOTAL |
| O3E6 | ALPHA COMMANDS FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E7 | ALPHA COMMANDS FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E8 | ALPHA COMMANDS FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E9 | ALPHA COMMANDS FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E10 | ALPHA COMMANDS TOTAL |
| O3E11 | BETA COMMANDS FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E12 | BETA COMMANDS FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E13 | BETA COMMANDS FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E14 | BETA COMMANDS FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E15 | BETA COMMANDS TOTAL |
| O3E16 | POSITIVE ATTENTION FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E17 | POSITIVE ATTENTION FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E18 | POSITIVE ATTENTION FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E19 | POSITIVE ATTENTION FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E20 | POSITIVE ATTENTION TOTAL |
| O3E21 | NEGATIVE ATTENTION FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E22 | NEGATIVE ATTENTION FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E23 | NEGATIVE ATTENTION FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E24 | NEGATIVE ATTENTION FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E25 | NEGATIVE ATTENTION TOTAL |
| O3E26 | COMPLIANCE FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E27 | COMPLIANCE FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E28 | COMPLIANCE FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E29 | COMPLIANCE FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E30 | COMPLIANCE COMMANDS TOTAL |
| O3E31 | NONCOMPLIANCE FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E32 | NONCOMPLIANCE FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E33 | NONCOMPLIANCE FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E34 | NONCOMPLIANCE FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E35 | NONCOMPLIANCE COMMANDS TOTAL |
| O3E36 | INAPPROPR BEHAVIOR FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E37 | INAPPROPR BEHAVIOR FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E38 | INAPPROPR BEHAVIOR FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E39 | INAPPROPR BEHAVIOR FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E40 | INAPPROPR BEHAVIOR TOTAL |
| O3E41 | TIME FOR CHILDS GAME |
| O3E42 | TIME FOR PARENTS GAME |
| O3E43 | TIME FOR LEGO TASK |
| O3E44 | TIME FOR CLEAN-UP |
| O3E45 | TIME TOTAL |
| SITE | SITE |
| bcs3tot | total commands |
| bcs3alp | total alpha commands |
| bcs3pos | total positive attention |
| bcs3neg | total negative attention |
| bcs3com | total compliance |
| bcs3non | total noncompliance |
| bcs3dis | total disruptive behavior |