Table 1 Parenting[al] Stress Index (PSI) subscales
From: Early detection of parenting stress in mothers of preterm infants during their first-year home
Maternal Stress Perceptions of Child Domain Subscales | |
Distractibility/ Hyperactivity (DI) | High raw scores associated with behaviors, e.g., overactivity, restlessness, distractibility, short attention span, does not seem to listen, or Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity. |
Adaptability (AD) | High raw scores associated with characteristics that make parenting task more difficult due to child’s inability to adjust to changes in physical or social environment |
Reinforces Parent (RE) | High raw score associated with parents not experiencing positive reinforcement from child |
Demandingness (DE) | High raw scores associated with parent experiencing child as placing many demands |
Mood (MO) | High raw scores associated with child whose affective functioning shows evidence of dysfunction |
Acceptability (AC) | High raw scores associated with child’s physical, intellectual and emotional characteristics that do not match parental expectations |
Child Domain (CD) | Total stress raw score of above Child Subscales |
Maternal Stress Perceptions of her Own Parental Domain Subscales | |
Competence (CO) | High raw scores may be due to factors such as parent’s real or perceived inability to care for child, lack of acceptance/criticism from spouse, first time parent’s inexperience, limited child management skills |
Isolation (IS) | High raw scores may be associated with social isolation from peers, relatives due to child care |
Attachment (AT) | High raw scores may be associated with absence of emotional closeness with child, e.g., cold pattern of parent-child interactions, parent’s real or perceived inability to understand child’s feelings and/or needs accurately |
Health (HE) | High raw scores may suggest deterioration in parental health |
Role Restriction (RO) | High raw scores suggest parental role as restricting parent’s freedom and frustration in attempting to maintain his/her own identity |
Depression (DP) | High raw scores are suggestive of significant parental depression |
Spouse (SP) | High raw scores relate to parents who lack the emotional and active support of the other partner in child management |
Parental Domain (PD) | Total Stress raw scores of above parental Subscales |
Total Stress (TS) | Sum of Child and Parental Subscales (CD + PD) |
Life Stress (LS) | High raw scores relate to current stress experienced outside the parent-child relationships |