Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS)

Adolescent Form:
1. I can discuss my beliefs with my mother/father without feeling restrained or embarrassed.
2. Sometimes I have trouble believing everything my mother/father tells me.
3. My mother/father is always a good listener.
4. I am sometimes afraid to ask my mother/father for what I want.
5. My mother/father has a tendency to say things to me that would be better left unsaid.
6. My mother/father can tell how I’m feeling without asking.
7. I am very satisfied with how my mother/father and I talk together.
8. If I were in trouble‚ I could tell my mother/father.
9. I openly show affection to my mother/father.
10. When we are ha‎ving a problem‚ I often give my mother/father the silent treatment.
11. I am careful about what I say to my mother/father.
12. When talking to my mother/father‚ I have a tendency to say things that would be better left unsaid.
13. When I ask questions‚ I get honest answers from my mother/father.
14. My mother/father tries to understand my point of view.
15. There are topics I avoid discussing with my mother/father.
16. I find it easy to discuss problems with my mother/father.
17. It is very easy for me to express all my true feelings to my mother/father.
18. My mother/father nags/bothers me.
19. My mother/father insults me when s/he is angry with me.
20. I don’t think I can tell my mother/father how I really feel about some things.
Parent Form:
1. I can discuss my beliefs with my child without feeling restrained or embarrassed.
2. Sometimes I have trouble believing everything my child tells me.
3. My child is always a good listener.
4. I am sometimes afraid to ask my child for what I want.
5. My child has a tendency to say things to me that would be better left unsaid.
6. My child can tell how I’m feeling without asking.
7. I am very satisfied with how my child and I talk together.
8. If I were in trouble‚ I could tell my child.
9. I openly show affection to my child.
10. When we are ha‎ving a problem‚ I often give my child the silent treatment.
11. I am careful about what I say to my child.
12. When talking with my child‚ I have a tendency to say things that would be better left unsaid.
13. When I ask questions‚ I get honest answers from my child.
14. My child tries to understand my point of view.
15. There are topics I avoid discussing with my child.
16. I find it easy to discuss problems with my child.
17. It is very easy for me to express all my true feelings to my child.
18. My child nags/bothers me.
19. My child insults me when s/he is angry with me.
20. I don’t think I can tell my child how I really feel about some things.
 
 
 
The internal consistency of the scores‚ measured by Cronbach’s alpha‚ were 0.87 for the openness subscale and0.78 for the problems subscale.
 
  • communication
 
This instrument can be found on pages 67-69 of Latino Families and Youth: A Compendium of Assessment Tools‚ available online at: http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=23171&Itemid=
 
 
1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Moderately disagree
3 = Neither agree nor disagree
4 = Moderately agree
5 = Strongly agree
Degree of openness: 1‚ 3‚ 6‚ 7‚ 8‚ 9‚ 13‚ 14‚ 16‚ 17
Extent of problems: 2‚ 4‚ 5‚ 10‚ 11‚ 12‚ 15‚ 18‚ 19‚ 20
 

Barnes‚ H. L.‚ & Olson‚ D. H. (1982). Parent-adolescent communication scale. In D. H. Olson‚ H. I. McCubbin‚ H.Bames‚ A. Larsen‚ M. Muxen and M. Wilson (Eds.)‚ Familyinventories: Inventories used in a national survey of familiesacross the family life-cycle (pp. 33-48). St. Paul: Family SocialScience‚ University of Minnesota.

 
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