Screening and Assessment Tools for Child Welfare
Description / Purpose:
The Protective Factors Survey (PFS) is a 20-item measure designed for use with caregivers receiving child maltreatment prevention services. The instrument measures protective factors in five areas: family functioning/resiliency, social support, concrete support, nurturing and attachment, and knowledge of parenting/child development. Workers can administer the survey before, during, or after services.
The primary purpose of the PFS is to provide feedback to agencies for continuous improvement and evaluation purposes. The PFS is not intended for individual assessment, placement, or diagnostic purposes. Agencies should rely on other instruments for clinical use.
Target Population: Parents and other caregivers receiving child maltreatment prevention services
Intended Users: Providers of child abuse prevention services, including home visiting, parent education, and other parent and family support services
Time to Administer: 10-15 minutes to complete
Completed By: Parents and other caregivers
Modalities Available: Pencil and paper survey
Scoring Information: Hand-scoring instructions are provided. A database has also been developed for managing PFS data and generating reports.
Languages Available:
Training Requirements for Intended Users: There is no minimum degree or license requirement to administer the survey.
Availability: The questionnaire is available at http://www.friendsnrc.org/protective-factors-survey
Contact Information
- Company: FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
- Website: www.friendsnrc.org/protective-factors-survey
- Name: Casandra Firman
- Title: Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator
- Email: cfirman@wavecable.com
- Phone: (360) 769-7167
- Fax: (360) 769-6722
- Company: University of Kansas Institute for Educational Research and Public Service
- Name: Karin Chang-Rios, PhD
- Title: Assistant Director
- Email: kcr@ku.edu
- Phone: (785) 864-7041
- Fax: (785) 864-5212
Summary of Relevant Psychometric Research
This assessment has received the Assessment Rating of "B – Reliability and/or Validity Level Above Face Validity Demonstrated" based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The assessment must have 1 or more published, peer-reviewed studies that demonstrated that the measure is reliable and valid. Please see the Assessment Rating Scale for more information.
Counts, J. M., Buffington, E. S., Chang-Rios, K., Rasmussen, H. N., & Preacher, K. J. (2010). The development and validation of the protective factors survey: A self-report measure of protective factors against child maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34(10), 762-772.
Sample:
Participants — Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and validation - N = 249. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) - N = 689
Race/Ethnicity — Not Specified
Summary:
The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) included 45 items theoretically serving as indicators of 4 factors: Family Functioning (FF), Emotional Support (ES), Concrete Support (CS), and Nurturing and Attachment (NA). The most interpretable factor structure emerging from the EFA retained 27 items. Based on a combination of standard factor retention criteria, model fit, and interpretability, a 4-factor EFA solution was chosen as the most appropriate model for the retained items. Additional items were removed due to low loadings, nontrivial cross-loadings, and parsimony, yielding a final scale with 20 items. Coefficient alphas for three subscales were acceptable for FF = 0.94, ES = 0.86, and NA = 0.83. The coefficient alpha for CS (0.63) was below the acceptable range of 0.80. In the validity analyses, all 4 subscales of the PFS were significantly negatively correlated with child abuse potential and stress. In the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), factor loadings using both maximum likelihood and weighted least square means and variance (WLSMV) solutions supported those of the initial EFA sample. Factor correlations in the CFA also remained consistent with those from the original sample. Results demonstrate that the factor structure generalized well to a new sample.
Date Reviewed: April 2011