The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire

The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) is a 42-question psychological self-report/parent-report assessment tool designed by Dr. Paul Frick The APQ measures several dimensions of parenting important for understanding the causes of conduct problems and delinquency in youth: Positive Reinforcement, Parental Involvement, Inconsistent Discipline, Poor Monitoring and Supervision, and Harsh Discipline. There is no manual for the APQ and is intended to be used by anyone needing to measure parenting behavior.

APQ
Multiple versions of the APQ exist including the Child Global Report, the Parent Global Report, the Child Telephone Interview, and the Parent Telephone Interview

APQ Short Form (APQ-SF)
The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Short Form (APQ-9) is a 9-item measure of parenting style based on the three main structures of the APQ: positive parenting, inconsistent discipline and poor supervision. There is no clinician requirement and the APQ-SF can be used by anyone wishing to measure parenting in regards to conduct problems and delinquency.

Validity
Validity describes the evidence that an assessment tool measures what it was supposed to measure.

Development and Impact
The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) has furthered the assessment of parenting practices in clinical and research settings. Independent investigations have also shown the APQ to be an informative assessment tool. Colder, Lockman, and Wells (1997) used the APQ to study how children’s activity levels moderate the influence of parenting practices on child aggression, finding that poorly monitored active boys and fearful boys who were exposed to harsh discipline exhibited high levels of aggression. The APQ is useful for studying how parenting practices influence disruptive behavioral problems and how interventions are mediated or moderated by parenting.

Use in other populations
The APQ has been translated into 17 different languages as of 2015. The full list of languages and contact information can be found here.