Psychometric properties of the Marschak Interaction Method of Psychometrics and the Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction within residential care and non-referred settings

Introduction Assessment and identification of children with developmental needs and their interaction with primary caregivers are critical for emotional and social development. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is a scarcity of valid observation-based tools that guide the work with family communication, which is essential for the child's healthy development.Method The Marschak Interaction Method of Psychometrics (MIM-P) and Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction (APCI) are both interaction and observation-based assessment tool, and they were explored for their validity and reliability in assessing caregiver-child interaction. The study included 30 trained and certified professionals who recruited referred and non-referred caregiver-child dyads over 11 months. Assessment data was collected from 139 caregiver-child dyads for the MIM-P with 278 individuals (100 referred and 178 non-referred) and 129 caregiver-child dyads for the APCI with 257 individuals (95 referred and 162 non-referred).Results The psychometric analyses show that both the MIM-P and APCI presents relevant sources of reliability and validity for assessing caregiver-child interaction including interrater reliability, internal consistency, test re-test reliability as well as concurrent and construct validity.Discussion and conclusion The study highlights the need for observation-based assessment tools within social work and contributes to the understanding of the importance of relationships and interaction in children's emotional and social development. However, further research is needed to explore norms and further strengthen implementation and quality of the tools.