Development, reliability, and validity of the daily telephone discipline interview

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of a new discipline daily-report telephone inventory with mothers of conduct-problem children. The study also sought to investigate the relationship between parental disciplinary style and (a) parent psychological status, (b) stressors, and (c) child behavior problems and mother-child interactions. One hundred and twenty-two mothers of conduct-problem children (ages 3 to 7 years) completed personal adjustment and life stress measures, child behavior reports, and daily parent telephone discipline interviews (DDI). Mothers were also videotaped interacting with their children. Results revealed significant correlations between mothers' reports of depression and stress and DDI disciplinary strategies characterized as inflexible, inappropriate, and critical. In addition, mother reports of child deviance correlated with disciplinary strategies characterized as physically forceful, flexible, and inappropriate. Critical and forceful DDI disciplinary strategies correlated with direct observations of mother commands and deviant mother-child interactions. These promising results suggest that the DDI may be a low-cost, efficient way of getting reasonably accurate information about parent disciplinary approaches.