A Cluster Analysis of the Parental Effectiveness Factors on the Custody Quotient Technique (CQ)

• Main Author: Lewis, Melinda Keen
• Other Authors: Peek, Leon A.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 1989
• Subjects: effective parenting; Custody Quotient Technique; Custody of children.; Parenting.; Schemas (Psychology)
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500645/

Subjects comprised four groups including: 73 judges; 90 family law practitioners; 38 psychologists; and 43 psychology graduate students. The subjects completed surveys designating the five most relevant and the five least relevant factors of effective parenting from a list of 85 such factors. As hypothesized, the family law attorneys and family law judges generated similar clusters of factors while the results of the psychologists and psychology graduate students likewise clustered similarly. These results suggest the possibility of the existence of common cognitive structures used in the custody decision-making process. Results could be used in the modification and refinement of the Custody Quotient (CQ) Technique. Future study could focus more specifically on the cognitive structures particular subjects use in making custody decisions.