Parental social support in children and adolescents : validation of the Interpersonal Resilience Inventory—Adolescent Version.

Objective

The current objective is to validate a modified version of the Interpersonal Resilience Inventory (IRI) for use in a population of adolescents and to examine distinctions between constructs of positive and negative parent social support interactions in relation to affective and emotional regulation outcomes.

Methods

Participants were a total of N = 443 adolescents aged 10-15 that were current 6th through 8th grade students at two middle schools in urban areas in the United States. The sample was 36.8% male and 62.8% female; 61% non-Hispanic White, 36% Hispanic or Latino, 12% Black, 3.4% Asian, and 5% Other.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good fit and high item loadings for a two-factor model. Item response theory analyses showed very high individual item discrimination and good test information across scales. Negative interactions were significantly more strongly related to negative affect and emotional regulation outcomes than were positive interactions; the same was true for positive interactions with positive affect. Negative interactions significantly contributed to all outcomes and were important in predicting outcomes over and above existing measures of general and parent-specific perceived support availability.

Conclusion

The IRI-A is a valid instrument for assessing distinct constructs of parent positive and negative social support. Future research should focus on the sensitivity of the instrument to change.

Practice Implications

By using the IRI to assess parent positive and negative interactions, it may be possible to detect and prioritize specific support behaviors for family interventions (i.e., negative interactions).