Coding Parents' Vignette Responses

Abstract

Studies show that positive parenting can lead to a lower rate of negative childhood outcomes (Forehand et al., 2014; Forgatch et al., 2016; Gewirtz et al., 2008; Menting et al., 2013). However, although parenting programs exist to aid in learning proper parental intervention, they tend to have a rather limited reach and the programs are not widely available or attended (Spoth et al., 2013; Whittaker & Cowley, 2012), likely due to logistical constraints. Therefore short online parenting programs may be beneficial for parents struggling with these barriers. There will be a need for observational tools to test whether or not these programs work as well as how they work, which I hope to help develop, through use of vignettes to measure parent behaviors. Vignette responses from parents have been used reliably (Haskett, Smith-Scott, Willoughby, Ahern, & Nears, 2006), but they are typically written down which can be more time consuming and fails to capture tone of voice, which is why this research project has opted for a virtual recording format to gain more information while still being accessible.