Abstract
Parental emotional availability has been discussed extensively in the research literature, but has rarely been evaluated directly. This manuscript describes a series of four studies (two pilot studies and two formal studies) that culminated in the development of a psychometrically sound measure of parental emotional availability. The Lum Emotional Availability of Parents (LEAP) measure was developed initially with older adolescents and then was extended down to children as young as 9 years old in both clinical and nonclinical samples. Collateral parental reports were also collected. The LEAP assesses children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of their mother’s and father’s emotional availability separately. The measure shows good psychometric properties regarding both reliability and validity. Children in the clinical sample reported lower rates of parental emotional availability than did children in the nonclinical sample. The LEAP is a promising new measure that can be used to identify children who might be at risk for development of emotional/behavioral problems because of their perceptions of parental emotional unavailability.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the youth self-report and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Achenbach, T. M., McConaughy, S. H., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213–232.
Aviezer, O., Sagi, A., Joels, T., & Ziv, Y. (1999). Emotional availability and attachment representations in Kibbutz infants and their mothers. Developmental Psychology, 35, 811–821.
Aviezera, O., Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Koren-Karie, N. (2003). Ecological constraints on the formation of infant–mother attachment relations: When maternal sensitivity becomes ineffective. Infant Behavior and Development, 26, 285–299.
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance abuse. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11, 56–95.
Biringen, Z. (2000). Emotional availability: Conceptualization and research findings. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 104–114.
Biringen, Z., & Robinson, J. (1991). Emotional availability in mother–child interactions: A reconceptualization for research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61, 258–271.
Biringen, Z., Robinson, J., & Emde, R. N. (1994). Maternal sensitivity in the second year: Gender-based relations in the dyadic balance of control. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 78–90.
Biringen, Z., Robinson, J., & Emde, R. N. (1998). The Emotional Availability Scale (3rd ed.). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University, Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
Bretherton, I. (2000). Emotional availability: An attachment perspective. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 233–241.
Derogatis, L. R., & Spencer, P. M. (1982). The brief symptom inventory manual. Towson, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.
Ducharme, J., Doyle, A. B., & Markiewicz, D. (2002). Attachment security with mother and father: Associations with adolescents’ reports of interpersonal behavior with parents and peers. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19, 203–231.
Easterbrooks, M. A., Biesecker, G., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2000). Infancy predictors of emotional availability in middle childhood: The roles of attachment security and maternal depressive symptomatology. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 170–187.
Easterbrooks, M. A., & Biringen, Z. (2000). Mapping the terrain of emotional availability and attachment. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 123–129.
Emde, R. N. (2000). Next steps in emotional availability research. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 242–248.
Field, T. (1986). Affective responses to separation. In T. B. Brazelton & M. W. Yogman (Eds.), Affective development in infancy (pp. 125–143). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Field, T. (1994). The effects of mother’s physical and emotional unavailability on emotion regulation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 208–227.
Fox, N. A., Kimmerly, N. L., & Schafer, W. D. (1991). Attachment to mother/attachment to father: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 62, 210–225.
Frankel, K. A., Lindahl, K., & Harmon, R. J. (1992). Preschoolers’ response to maternal sadness: Relationships with maternal depression and emotional availability. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13, 132–146.unlinked
Gerlsma, C., Emmelkamp, P. M. G., & Arrindell, W. A. (1990). Anxiety, depression, and perception of early parenting: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 251–277.
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Kendall, P. C., & Chansky, T. E. (1991). Considering cognition in anxiety-disordered children. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 5, 167–185.
Kerns, K. A., Tomich, P. L., Aspelmeier, J. E., & Contreras, J. M. (2000). Attachment-based assessments of parent–child relationships in middle childhood. Developmental Psychology, 36, 614-626.
Kodl, M. M., & Mermelstein, R. (2004). Beyond modeling: Parenting practices, parental smoking history, and adolescent cigarette smoking. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 17–32.unlinked
Kovacs, M. (1992). Children’s depression inventory manual. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
Larzelere, R. E., & Mulaik, S. A. (1977). Single-sample tests for many correlations. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 557–569.
Lee, C. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (1991). Family disruption, parental availability and child adjustment. Advances in Behavioral Assessment of Children and Families, 5, 171–199.
Lieberman, M., Doyle, A. B., & Markiewicz, D. (1999). Developmental patterns in security of attachment to mother and father in late childhood and early adolescence: Associations with peer relations. Child Development, 70, 202–213.
Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research on successful children. American Psychologist, 53, 205-220.
McLoyd, V. C. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 53, 185–204.
McNair, D., Lorr, M., & Droppleman, L. (1992). Manual for the profile of mood states. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1-10.
Phares, V. (1996). Fathers and developmental psychopathology. New York: Wiley.
Phares, V. (1999). Poppa psychology: The role of fathers in children’s mental well-being. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Phares, V., Lopez, E., Fields, S., Kamboukos, D., & Duhig, A. M. (in press). Are fathers involved in pediatric psychology research and treatment? Journal of Pediatric Psychology
Phares, V., & Lum, J. J. (1997). Clinically referred children and adolescents: Fathers, family constellations, and other demographic factors. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 216-223.
Phares, V., & Renk, K. (1998). Perceptions of parents: A measure of adolescents’ feelings about their parents. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 646–659.
Pleck, J. H., & Masciadrelli, B. P. (2004). Paternal involvement by U.S. residential fathers: Levels, sources, and consequences. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (4th ed., pp. 222–271). New York: Wiley.
Reese, R. J., Kieffer, K. M., & Briggs, B. K. (2002). A reliability generalization study of select measures of adult attachment style. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62, 619-646.
Reynolds, C. R., & Richmond, B. O. (1985).Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Robinson, J., & Little, C. (1994). Emotional availability in mother-twin dyads: Effects on the organization of relationships. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 57, 222–231.
Rummel, R. J. (1970). Applied factor analysis. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Schaefer, E. S. (1965). Children’s reports of parental behavior: An inventory. Child Development, 36, 413–424.
Schludermann, E., & Schludermann, S. (1970). Replicability of factors in children’s report of parent behavior (CRPBI). Journal of Psychology, 76, 239–249.
Silverstein, L. B. (2002). Fathers and families. In J. P. McHale & W. S. Grolnick (Eds.), Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of families (pp. 35–64). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Steinberg, L., Lamborn, S. D., Darling, N., Mounts, N. S., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1994). Over-time changes in adjustment and competence among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development, 65, 754-770.
Strahan, R., & Gerbasi, K. C. (1972). Short, homogeneous versions of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 191–193.
Volling, B. L., McElwain, N. L., Notaro, P. C., & Herrera, C. (2002). Parents’ emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent–infant attachment and emerging self-regulation. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 447–465.
Winefield, H. R., Goldney, R. D., Tiggemann, M., & Winefield, A. H. (1990). Parental rearing behaviors: Stability of reports over time and relation to adult interpersonal skills. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 151, 211–219.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lum, J.J., Phares, V. Assessing the Emotional Availability of Parents. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 27, 211–226 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-005-0637-3
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-005-0637-3