The parent threat inventory: development, reliability, and validity

Objective: The goal was to develop a retrospective inventory of parental threatening behavior to facilitate a better understanding of such behavior’s role in the etiology of psychological distress. Method: Inventory items were developed based on theory and 135 students’ responses to a question eliciting examples of threatening parental behavior. Following item development, two additional student samples ( n = 200 and n = 603) completed batteries of self-report measures. Responses were used to eliminate unstable or redundant items from the inventory and to examine the inventory’s psychometric properties. Results: Factor analysis of the inventory revealed three factors, accounting for 66.2% of variance; this factor structure is compatible with theory, and consistent across maternal behavior scores, paternal behavior scores, and combined maternal and paternal scores. Cronbach’s coefficient alphas indicated acceptable internal consistency; Pearson correlation coefficients indicated acceptable 4-week test-retest reliability. Moderate intercorrelations with two retrospective measures of childhood experiences suggested construct validity. Regression analyses demonstrated the ability of the inventory to predict both anxious and depressive symptomatology and lifetime symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder. Normative data on combined parent scores, maternal scores, and paternal scores are also presented. Conclusions: Initial psychometric testing of the Parent Threat Inventory (PTI) suggests it is a reliable and valid tool for investigating the developmental antecedents of adult psychological distress. Further research should focus on addressing two limitations: (1) lack of normative and psychometric data on men and women suffering from clinical disorders, and (2) lack of validation by parental reporting. Objectif: Les auteurs ont cherché à élaborer un inventaire rétrospectif du comportement de menace chez les parents afin de faciliter une meilleure compréhension du rôle de ce comportement dans l’étiologie de la détresse psychologique. Méthode: On a pris comme base pour construire les items de l’inventaire la théorie et les réponses de 135 étudiants à une question donnant des exemples de comportements parentaux de menace. Après construction des items, deux échantillons additionnels d’étudiants ( n = 200 et n = 603) ont rempli des batteries de mesures auto-évaluées. Les réponses ont été utilisées pour éliminer les items instables ou redondants et pour examiner le