The AAPI Online is the online testing and scoring Web site service for the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory.

The Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) is designed to assess the parenting and child-rearing attitudes of adult and adolescent parent and non-parent populations. Based on the known behaviors of abusive parents, responses to the AAPI provide an index of risk for practicing parenting behaviors known to contribute to the maltreatment of children. The present version (AAPI-2) is the revised and re-normed version of the original inventory first published in 1979.

Responses to the AAPI-2 provide an index of risk in five specific parenting and child-rearing behaviors:

Construct A: Inappropriate Expectations of Children Construct B: Parental Lack of Empathy Construct C: Strong Belief in the Use of Corporal Punishment Construct D: Reversing Parent-Child Roles Construct E: Oppressing Children's Power and Independence

More than 20 years of research has established the inventory's solid levels of validity and reliability:

Abusive parents express significantly (p < .001) more abusive attitudes than non-abusive parents in all five parenting constructs. Adolescents with histories of being abused express significantly (p < .001) more abusive parenting attitudes than adolescents without known histories of abuse. Adult and adolescent males express significantly (p < .001) more abusive parenting attitudes than both adult and adolescent females. Each of the five sub-scales of the AAPI-2 shows significant diagnostic and discriminatory validity.

Intended Populations: Adult and adolescent parent and non-parent populations.

Forms and Items: There are two test forms of the AAPI 2 -- Form A and Form B. Each inventory has 40 different items presented in a five-point Likert scale, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree.

Administration: There are two ways to utilize the AAPI Online -- the Interactive Inventory and the Manual Data-Entry Inventory:

• The Interactive Inventory allows the participant to respond to the items directly on the computer. The participants can either read the questions or press a key to hear the questions read to them.
• In the Manual Data-Entry Inventory, the participant takes the paper version or the CD-ROM version of the AAPI. The test administrator (or his/her designee) then transfers the responses to the computer in the Manual Data-Entry Inventory for quick analyses.

Reading Level: The AAPI has an assessed fifth-grade reading level.

Scoring and Interpretation: Responses to the AAPI are presented in the Parenting Profile for each individual and for the group. Pre- and post-test Parenting Profiles present data to determine the effectiveness of the parenting program being offered.

Author: Dr. Stephen J. Bavolek initially developed the AAPI in 1979. To learn more about Dr. Bavolek and about Family Development Resources, click on About Us.

Research Studies: The AAPI-2 is used extensively in research studies worldwide. A bibliography of some of the current studies can be located by clicking on Research and Validation.