The parent-child relationship scale: validating an instrument to assess relational patterns and disorders

Introduction: Understanding the quality of infant/child-caregiver relationship appears an essential part of the diagnostic process in infancy and early childhood, regardless of the child’s symptoms or disorders. Aims of the study: In this study, we aimed 1) to validate the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (P-CRS), a scale assessing the quality of interactive patterns and relationship between the parent and the child; and 2) to assess the correlations between infant/child symptomatology and quality of relationship with the caregiver, in clinical and non-clinical children. Materials and Methods: The clinical group is composed of 250 children with different clinical diagnoses, the non-clinical group consisted of 250 children, matched by age. General and clinical information was collected with the Clinical Data Form. Symptomatology was measured through the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), completed by the parents, and the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), compiled by the clinician. The relationship with both caregivers was evaluated by the clinician with the P-CRS. Results: Factor Analysis for P-CRS items revealed three main factors which describe the functioning of a specific relationship model: withdrawal, hostility, and anxiety. The comparison between clinical versus non-clinical children evidenced significant differences in the quality of the parent-child relationship, in particular with respect to withdrawal and anxiety factor, and especially with mother. Furthermore, significant correlations were found between the quality of parent-child relationship and the child symptomatic pattern. Conclusions: The study highlights that P-CRS is a valid tool to understand the mutual influence between psychopathology and relationships in infancy and early childhood, showing the importance of the parent-child relationship’s assessment from the early stages of development and the need of a valid and reliable tool for both researchers and clinician.