Home Audio Observations of Parenting-in-Context: Evaluation of an Example Protocol

Observations are a valuable tool for the assessment of parenting. Direct observation of parenting behavior via audio recordings may be among the least intrusive observation methods. However, unobtrusive naturalistic audio observations of parenting behavior, and specifically continuous, longer, observations, are rarely collected. We therefore know little about the acceptability, feasibility, and validity of these types of observations. The current project therefore aimed to develop and pilot a protocol to collect audio data of parenting behavior within its natural context. We collected unobtrusive naturalistic audio observations during two predetermined timeframes: family dinner and bedtime routines. The procedure consisted of three steps: two short home visits and an online interview (approx. 30 minutes). Researchers or research assistants visited participants at home twice to bring and collect the audio recorder. After the recording was processed, one of the researchers scheduled an online interview (via Microsoft Teams) for the evaluation of participants’ experiences of wearing the recording device. We piloted this protocol with 11 families with two to four children between 10 months and 12 years of age. In this document we share the protocol and our pilot findings on the acceptability, feasibility, and validity of the protocol.