1. Evaluating PICCOLO Scores against the Crowell: Is the PICCOLO Valid with Parents of Maltreated Children in the
Child Welfare System?
Felicia Ghrist, Tina Dykehouse, Carla Barron, & Ann Stacks
Purpose of the StudyPurpose of the Study
To investigate if a brief measure of parenting
(PICCOLO), is a valid assessment forparents
whose infants are undercourt jurisdiction as a
result of maltreatment, by comparing it to a
gold-standard research measure (Crowell).
Thisproject isfunded by TheCentersfor DiseaseControl, TheFlinn Foundation and WayneStateUniversity
UndergraduateResearch OpportunitiesProgram
Justification forUsing the PICCOLOJustification forUsing the PICCOLO
• Objective & inexpensive measure of caregiver-
child interaction
• Short administration and coding
• Flexible administration
• Relatively short time for coders to become
reliable
• Expensive to train and administer
• Little freedom to administer in a variety of
settings; need large lab space & video
equipment
• Extensive time to become a reliable coder
RationaleRationale
•Assessments allow social workers to know their clients’ strengths and limitations in order to target
interventions and to report changes in parent-child interactions to the court.
•Judges presiding over child welfare cases want objective measures when making a decision about
whether or not it is safe to send a child home.
•Currently there is no objective and practical measure used for community intervention programs
or in the courtrooms.
Cons of using the CrowellCons of using the Crowell
MethodsMethods
All Baby Court families participate in an assessment when they are enrolled and 9-months after
the beginning of treatment. The assessment includes:
•Crowell Parent-Child Interaction Procedure
•Parent Development Interview
•Bayley Scales of Infant Development (III)
•History
Results are shared with the court
For this project two of the eight Crowell tasks will be re-coded using the PICCOLO
•Correlation analyses will be conducted to determine if subscale scores on the PICCOLO are
significantly related to subscale scores on the Crowell
For this project two of the eight Crowell tasks are being re-coded using the PICCOLO to assess
correlations among the subscales. The following hypotheses are being tested:
•H1: PICCOLO subscale scores assessed during free play and teaching task 4 will be positively
correlated with Crowell subscale scores.
•H2: Compared to PICCOLO scores assessed during free play, PICCOLO scores assessed during the
teaching task will be more strongly correlated with Crowell subscale scores.
Department of Psychology
School of Social Work
Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute
For Child and Family Development
Table 1.
Preliminary FindingsPreliminary Findings
Correlation MatricesCorrelation Matrices The Responsiveness subscales on the PICCOLO will be positively correlated with the Emotional Responsiveness subscale on the Crowell.
This finding was partially supported.
• As expected Responsiveness is trending towards significant positive correlation with Emotional Responsiveness during task 4.
(r= .740, p= .076)
• Contrary to expectations Responsiveness was not significantly correlated with Emotional Responsiveness during free play, however
the correlation coefficient was high (r= .645)
Hypothesized Subscale Correlations
PICCOLO Crowell
Affection Positive Affect and Emotional Responsiveness
Responsiveness Emotional Responsiveness
Encouragement Emotional Responsiveness
Teaching Behavioral Responsiveness
The Affection subscales on the PICCOLO will be positively correlated with the Positive and Emotional Responsiveness subscales on the
Crowell. This finding was partially supported.
• As expected Affection was significantly correlated with Emotional Responsiveness and Positive Affect during task 4.
• Contrary to expectations Affection was not significantly correlated with Positive Affect during free play, however the correlation
coefficient was high (r= .718)
The Encouragement subscales on the PICCOLO will be positively correlated with the Emotional Responsiveness subscale on the
Crowell. This finding was fully supported.
• As expected Encouragement was significantly correlated with the Emotional Responsiveness in both free play and task 4.
The Teaching subscales on the PICCOLO will be positively correlated with the Behavioral Responsiveness subscale on the Crowell. This
finding was not supported.
• Contrary to expectations Teaching was not significantly correlated with the Behavioral Responsiveness subscale in task 4.
• Contrary to expectations Teaching is trending towards significant negative correlation with Behavioral Responsiveness during free
play. (r= -.791, p=.056)