# Refining the Measurement of Parenting

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $304,588

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Effective parenting is a critical component of healthy child development. Ineffective parenting skills have been
implicated as contributing factors for childhood externalizing and internalizing symptoms, which may
significantly disrupt children’s functioning and extend into adulthood. Effective tools to assess parenting and
measure change in these domains over time will contribute to a more complete understanding of both
normative and atypical developmental pathways. Thus, there is a need for parenting measures that are brief
and low-cost, have strong psychometric properties and established norms, reduce social desirability biases,
are culturally inclusive, and are sensitive to change. To address the need for a measure that meets these
criteria, we have systematically developed the Knowledge of Effective Parenting Test (KEPT) over the past 10
years (K01MH093508; R21HD090145). In its current iteration, the KEPT is an online assessment for which
parents/guardians answer questions in response to 15 brief vignettes of both common and challenging
parenting scenarios. Developed for parents of children aged 5-12, the measure covers knowledge of parent-
management skills known to be associated with childhood disruptive behavior disorders, including age-
appropriate expectations, effective communication, planned-ignoring, rewards, consequences, attending to
positive behavior, and praise. This proposed project will build on our previous work by accomplishing three
new aims that will extend the utility and efficiency of the KEPT. Aim 1 is to develop new content for the
Knowledge of Effective Parenting Test (KEPT) for domains of parenting that are associated with the
development and maintenance of childhood internalizing symptoms. Aim 2 is to develop computer adaptive
test (CAT) versions of the KEPT-Internalizing (KEPT-I) and KEPT-Externalizing (KEPT-E) that are calibrated in
a nationally representative sample (N = 1,000). Aim 3 is to establish the reliability and validity of the KEPT-I
and KEPT-E in a symptomatic sample (N = 200) and healthy controls (N = 100) over a 12-month interval. This
measurement R01 will result in an expanded item pool for the KEPT with new content for domains of parenting
that are associated with the development and maintenance of internalizing symptoms, along with CAT versions
of the expanded test. This is important given the increasing rates of internalizing symptoms among school age
children, and because these symptoms often co-occur with externalizing symptoms and are frequently
underrecognized. The project has the potential to advance the way treatment developers operationalize and
measure parenting knowledge and skills. This proposed project is consistent with NICHD’s mission to ensure
“that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives.”

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10765685
- **Project number:** 5R01HD108140-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** OLIVER JAMES LINDHIEM
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $304,588
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-02-01 → 2028-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10765685

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10765685, Refining the Measurement of Parenting (5R01HD108140-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10765685. Licensed CC0.

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