PCIT – Interaction Ratings Scale
Abstract: In this adapted version of the Interaction Ratings Scale (Crnic and Greenberg, 1990), the child observer completes a total of 16 global ratings of the mother and child with respect to gratification, sensitivity, and involvement. The Fast Track Project uses this measure as part of the Parent-Child Interaction Task (PCIT) during the summer interview. The IRS is completed after each of 4 tasks that the parent and child complete together: Child's Game, Parent's Game, Lego Task, and Clean-Up. Each item is rated on a global 5-point system, with 1 representing a low or negative value and 5 representing a high or positive value; a score of 3 was considered average. For each of the 4 tasks, parents and children are rated on several qualities. For the Child's Game, there are 5 items: mother's gratification, child's gratification, mother's sensitivity, mother's involvement, and child's involvement. For the Parent's Game, there are 4 items: mother's and child's gratification and mother's and child's involvement. For the Lego Task, there are 5 items: mother's gratification, child's gratification, mother's sensitivity, mother's involvement, and child's involvement. Finally, for the Clean-Up task, the mother's and child's involvement is rated. Cronbach's alphas were calculated for the two subscales. For the normative subscale the reliability coefficient was .90 and for the control sample the reliability coefficient was .89. Both of these reliability coefficients indicate an extremely acceptable level of reliability for these subscales. Analysts should note that the distributions for both subscales were fairly normal for both the normative and control samples. The same is true for the items. One item, mother's involvement in the Lego Task (O2C13), showed slightly more skewness than most of the other items. However, analysts who use this measure should feel confident that the items in this measure are fairly reliable, as are both of the subscales.
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
Technical Reports:
Raw Dataset Name: OyC
Scored Dataset Name: IRSySOc
Keywords:
Interaction Process, Parent-Child Communication, Task Orientation
Is this Measure Available for Public Use?: Yes
Obtain Measure:
Download the measure here
SAS Code for Scale Creation:
Download the code here
Measure Items and Scales:
| O1C1 | CG: GRATIFICATION (M) |
| O1C2 | CG: GRATIFICATION (C) |
| O1C3 | CG: SENSITIVITY (M) |
| O1C4 | CG: INVOLVEMENT (M) |
| O1C5 | CG: INVOLVEMENT (C) |
| O1C6 | PG: GRATIFICATION (M) |
| O1C7 | PG: GRATIFICATION (C) |
| O1C10 | LT: GRATIFICATION (M) |
| O1C11 | LT: GRATIFICATION (C) |
| O1C12 | LT: SENSITIVITY (M) |
| SITE | SITE |
| TCID | CHILD'S STUDY ID NUMBER |
| COHORT | COHORT |
| O1C8 | PARENT GAME INVL (M) |
| O1C9 | PARENT GAME INVL (C) |
| O1C13 | LEGO TASK INVL (M) |
| O1C14 | LEGO TASK INVL (C) |
| O1C15 | CLEAN-UP INVL (M) |
| O1C16 | CLEAN-UP INVL (C) |
| irs1war | Y1 IRS Warmth |
| irs1cwa | Y1 Child Warmth to Mother |