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Retrospective Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition: Evidence of Validity and Reliability
Sprague-Jones, Jessica Bash, Kirstie Singh, Pallavi Firman, Casandra
Sprague-Jones, Jessica
Bash, Kirstie
Singh, Pallavi
Firman, Casandra
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Abstract
The Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition (PFS-2) is used widely in the evaluation of child abuse prevention programs and services to children and families. The present study establishes the validity of the retrospective version of the PFS-2 compared to the pre-post and identifies how the differing survey methods may affect results. We conducted a field test to collect data on both versions of the survey with 996 program participants from 60 sites in 7 states. Factor loadings, model fit, and inter-subscale correlations were substantially similar across samples. Respondents who completed the pre-post survey had higher average pre-test scores and smaller mean differences from Time 1 to Time 2 than the respondents who completed the retrospective. The retrospective sample had larger numbers of respondents showing no change at the subscale level, while the pre-post sample had larger numbers showing negative change. The results confirm that the retrospective approach does not meaningfully change the functioning of PFS-2. Evaluators should choose the version of the PFS-2 that works best in the context of service delivery and be aware of the potential biases in their analysis and presentation of results.
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Date
2025-12-19
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Center for Published Partnerships and Research, University of Kansas
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This item contains archived web content.
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Keywords
PFS-2, Survey validation, Evaluation, Child maltreatment prevention, Retrospective surveys
Citation
Sprague-Jones, J., Bash, K., Singh, P., & Firman, C. (2025). Retrospective Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition: Evidence of Validity and Reliability. Study conducted on behalf of FRIENDS National Center with funding from the U.S. Children’s Bureau. https://hdl.handle.net/1808/36272