Spanish Adaptation of the Parenting Practices Interview (PPI-25) for Families with Substantiated Reports or at Risk for Child Maltreatment

Abstract

Parenting practices are a central focus of many family preventive and treatment programs due to their influence on children’s well-being. Reliable measures of parenting practices are relevant not only for research purposes, but also for assessment, selection of intervention goals, and evaluation of expected changes in clinical practice. However, measurement of parenting practices has been a challenge for researchers and practitioners. The Parenting Practice Interview (PPI) has been developed to assess both positive and negative parenting dimensions and has been used in clinical contexts. The present study aimed to develop a Spanish adaptation of the PPI and to analyze its main psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 213 parents with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment with significant problems in coping with their children’s behavioral problems, recruited from Child Welfare and Child Protection Services. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), measurement invariance (MI), convergent validity, and differences based on parents’ and children’s age and gender were analyzed. A four-factor model with 25 items (Appropriate Discipline, Verbal Praise and Incentives, Inconsistent Discipline, and Physical Punishment) met statistical requirements (RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91) and showed adequate internal consistency and convergent validity. MI analyses allowed comparison across time and groups. Although more research is needed, the PPI-25’s psychometric properties are encouraging for its use with families with substantiated reports or at risk for child maltreatment in Spain.