Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition (PSI-4)
Evaluates the magnitude, and type, of stress in a parent/child relationship.

Richard R. Abidin, Ed. D.

• Age Range: Parents of children 1 month-12 years
• Time: 20 minutes

Widely used in medical centers, outpatient therapy settings, pediatric practices and for treatment outcome monitoring, the PSI-4 is a 120-item, self-report inventory that focuses on three major domains of stressor source:

• Child Characteristics 
• Parent Characteristics    
• Situational/Demographic Life Stress

Commonly used as a screening and triage measure for evaluating the parenting system, and identifying issues that may lead to problems in the child’s or parent’s behavior, the information may be used for: 

• Designing a Treatment Plan  
• Setting Priorities for Intervention
• Follow-up Evaluation

Two domains (Child and Parent) combine to form the Total Stress Scale. A Life Stress Scale provides information about the amount of parent stress caused by factors outside the Parent-Child Relationship.

Child Domain Subscales

• Distractibility/Hyperactivity   
• Adaptability    
• Reinforces Parent 
• Demandingness    
• Mood    
• Acceptability

Parent Domain Subscales

• Competence  
• Isolation  
• Attachment  
• Health
• Role  Restriction 
• Depression  
• Spouse/Parenting Partner Relationships

Short Form Available
The 36-item PSI-Short Form (PSI-4SF) provides a Total Stress Scale, which allows primary health care providers, schools, mental health clinics and researchers to quickly target families most in need of services. 

PSI-4SF Domains

• Parental Distress  
• Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction 
• Difficult Child

Norms are organized by each year of child age. Percentiles, the primary interpretive framework for the PSI-4, and T scores are provided. One validity scale, Defensive Responding, indicates whether the parent is responding in a defensive manner.

Reliability and Validity
All new normative data were collected from a sample of 534 mothers and 522 fathers, stratified to match the demographic composition of the 2007 U.S. Census. Validity has been investigated in studies focused on at-risk children, attachment, ADHD, child abuse, forensic contexts, medical treatmentt adherence, substance abuse, parental depression and more.

Coefficient alpha reliability coefficients, based on the responses of individuals in the normative sample, ranged from .78 to .88 for Child Domain Subscales, and from .75 to .87 for Parent Domain Subscales.  Reliability coefficients for the two domains, and the Total Stress Scale, were .96 or greater, indicating a high degree of internal consistency for these measures.

The PSI-4 Kit includes 10 Item Booklets, 25 Answer Sheets, 25 Profile Forms and a Manual. The PSI-4 Short Form Kit includes 25 Short Form Record/Profile Forms and a Manual.