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Background: The Protective Factors Survey (PFS) is a self-report measure of multiple family-level protective factors against abuse and neglect. It is the only peer-reviewed valid and reliable tool collecting data on multiple protective factors, and is widely used by practitioners in child abuse prevention and related fields., Objective: The objective of this study was to revise the PFS in response to feedback from practitioners, and analyze the internal structure of new items., Participants and Setting: Data was collected from two Qualtrics panel samples (N = 213 and N = 109)., Methods: A team of researchers generated new items informed by the literature on protective factors against child maltreatment and best practices in survey design to address feedback from the field and improve sensitivity to change. We conducted focus groups with caregivers and practitioners to review new items, and then fielded revised items using panel data. We conducted exploratory factor analyses to obtain a small, integrated set of items that tap the targeted protective factors., Results: Exploratory factor analyses yield a five-factor solution. Four of the factors consisting of Family Functioning and Resilience, Nurturing and Attachment, Social Supports, and Concrete Supports. A fifth factor emerged consisting of items intended to capture Social Supports. We adapted these items to measure Caregiver/Practitioner Relationship., Conclusions: We have developed the PFS, 2nd Edition based on feedback from the field and focus groups with parents and practitioners. Initial evidence from the panel data suggests that the new subscales are internally consistent. Future research will establish reliability and validity., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although young age for both the parent and child is implicated in incidences of maltreatment, little is known about the association between parent or child age and protective factors related to child maltreatment prevention. With a sample of parents receiving child maltreatment prevention services in Kansas (N = 1993), we used regression analyses to examine whether the interaction of child and parent age influences family‐level protective factors over time. We found mixed support for each hypothesis, indicating that the age of parents and children differentially impacts family‐level protective factors. Implications for the Strengthening Families approach and child maltreatment prevention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition measures factors thought to prevent abuse and neglect. • It is designed to support the evaluation of child maltreatment prevention programs. • It can be used for needs assessments, programmatic decisions, and case-management. • The present study establishes reliability and validity across diverse samples. The Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition (PFS-2) is designed to support the evaluation of child maltreatment prevention programs. It measures four protective factors thought to be critical in the prevention of abuse and neglect: Family Functioning/Resilience, Nurturing and Attachment, Social Supports, and Concrete Supports. It also measures a fifth component, the Caregiver/Practitioner Relationship, to assess the respondent's engagement with the program or service being evaluated. In this study, we describe a national field test collecting PFS-2 data across 60 individual program sites in seven states (N = 826). The results from this study indicate that the PFS-2 is a valid, reliable, and stable measure. Implications for the child maltreatment prevention field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]