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minutes with a compliant child, the initial five minutes of the CU situation is coded, after which the observation session can be terminated.
Coding of the dyad may be conducted "live" with the observer coding during the actual observation period. Clinicians may prefer to use selected categories when coding "live" to assess behaviors targeted for change. Alternatively, the parent-child interactions can be videotaped and coded at a later date. The latter method is recommended for research purposes.
In Robinson & Eyberg's (1981) study to standardize and validate the DPICS, parent-child dyads were observed in the two play situations, CDI and PDI. The standardization sample consisted of 20 families (11 fathers) who had been referred to a university child psychology clinic for treatment of behavior problems and 22 control families (16 fathers) recruited from the community. The mean interrater reliability coefficient for parent behaviors was .91 (range = .67-1.00) and for the child behaviors was .92 (range = .76 1.00). In a discriminant analysis, the DPICS variables were found to classify correctly 94% of the families into either the clinic-referred or non-referred group. The DPICS variables also accounted for 61% of the variance in parental reports of their children's behavior at home on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999). Thus, the DPICS has demonstrated reliability and validity as an observational system for children with behavior problems. The results of the study suggested that there are few and relatively small differences between fathers and mothers in their interactions with their young children. Children were equally compliant and exhibited similar rates of deviant behavior with parents of either sex in the playroom