Research Library

Peer-reviewed research supporting puppet-based interviews and digital assessment methods for young children.

Research focus areas

Foundational Studies
Original Berkeley Puppet Interview validation and psychometric properties.
Digital Adaptations
CHAT-E and technology-enhanced puppet interview implementations.
Population Studies
Large-scale validation across diverse populations and settings.

2020s

  • 2025Peer-reviewed

    Longitudinal changes in preschoolers' self-reported psychological and social problems: Feasibility, reliability, and cross-informant agreement

    Meingold Hiu-Ming Chan, Xin Feng, Yihui Gong, Karis InbodenChild Psychiatry & Human Development

    For decades, parental reports were used to assess children's psychological symptoms and social problems. The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI) utilizes hand puppets to collect questionnaire-style interview data from children, allowing consideration of children's own perspective. The current longitudinal study compared the feasibility and reliability of preschoolers' self-report with BPI at age 4 (M = 4.03, SD = 0.16; 52% boy, 82% White American) and 5 (M = 5.22, SD = 0.36) as well as cross-informant agreement among children, mothers, alternate caregivers (> 90% biological fathers), and coders. Children completed Symptom, Prosocial, and Parenting scales of BPI and their parents completed surveys assessing similar constructs. Our findings revealed both similarities and changes across ages. Specifically, the reliability and cross-informant agreement of the broad Symptom and Parenting scales were promising at both timepoints; however, 4-year-olds showed lower internal consistency in Social scales. Recommendations for how to refine and utilize BPI appropriately in young children in future research and the importance of cross-informant design were discussed.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Longitudinal
  • 2021Peer-reviewed

    A critical gap in early childhood policies: Children's meaning making

    Terri J. Sabol, Andrea Kinghorn Busby, Marc W. HernandezTranslational Issues in Psychological Science 7(1), 9-20

    Developmental science demonstrates that younger children (ages 4 to 8) are capable of making meaning of their contexts and the self. Yet, younger children's meaning making is largely absent from intervention and implementation research on early childhood policies. This absence is notable given the rise in investment in early childhood policies and the need to understand how to maximize and sustain their impacts. In the current study, we consider how better measurement of children's meaning making of a current policy-related intervention could provide an important and new tool to inform the design, structure, and content of early childhood policies. We describe the following three major advances in psychological science and technology that make it the opportune time to consider measuring younger children's meaning making: (a) general recognition that younger children can make meaning of their environmental contexts and the self, (b) evidence on the validity of assessment paradigms (i.e., the Berkeley Puppet Interview) to assess younger children's meaning making, and (c) emerging evidence that technological advances can support the measurement of complex processes at scale. We then describe our process for developing a novel measurement tool, which pairs a tablet-based assessment paradigm (the Childhood Assessment Tool-Electronic (CHAT-E)) with a newly developed content-specific scale, to study how kindergarten students make meaning of college savings accounts within an intervention/implementation study. We provide lessons learned and implications for research conducted at the intersection of psychology, implementation science, and child policy.

    • Policy & Accountability
    • Digital Adaptation
    • Child Voice
  • 2021Peer-reviewed

    A step toward measuring children's college-bound identity in children's savings accounts programs: The case of Promise Scholars

    William Elliott, Haotian Zheng, Terri Sabol, Megan O'BrienChildren and Youth Services Review 121(February), 105791

    Research indicates that children's college expectations are an important predictor of children's school outcomes and Children's Savings Accounts (CSAs) are a predictor of children's educational expectations. Typically measured with a single question, children's college expectations have been used as a proxy for college-bound identity. Building on Identity-Based Motivation theory, we take a step toward creating a scale for measuring college-bound identity. This scale consists of 22 items with three first-order identity factors: salience, group congruence, and interpretation of difficulty as normal. Findings indicate that a second-order identity latent named college-bound identity may be reflected in the data. We then test the association between Promise Early Award Scholarship (Promise Scholars), a CSA and early award scholarship program, and college-bound identity. Promise Scholars participants' college-bound identity is predicted to be 0.02 higher than that of non-Promise Scholars participants. The authors offer potential next steps in the attempt to better measure children's college-bound identity.

    • Policy & Accountability
    • Child Voice
  • 2021Peer-reviewed

    Engaging public policy with psychological science

    Jaclyn Siegel, Melanie Arenson, Alyssa Mikytuck, Jennifer WoolardTranslational Issues in Psychological Science 7(1), 1-8

    Psychological science has much to contribute to public policy, yet the translation from research to policy implementation often faces significant barriers. This article examines strategies for effectively engaging psychological science with policy development and implementation. We discuss the importance of building relationships between researchers and policymakers, communicating research findings in accessible formats, and timing research contributions to align with policy windows. The article highlights successful examples of psychology-policy integration, including the use of developmentally appropriate assessment tools in early childhood policy initiatives. We emphasize the need for psychologists to consider policy implications during research design and to actively participate in policy conversations. The paper also addresses challenges such as the mismatch between research timelines and policy needs, and provides recommendations for training the next generation of policy-engaged psychological scientists.

    • Policy & Accountability
  • 2021Peer-reviewed

    Improving preschool accountability systems: Bringing individual children's experiences back to child policy

    Terri J. SabolPolicy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences 8(2), 217-224

    Preschool accountability systems, including Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), seek to assess, monitor, and improve children's outcomes across the early care and education (ECE) landscape. This article considers how to build on the QRIS framework by treating children's individual experiences within classrooms as a key indicator of quality, alongside the more traditional classroom-level measures that current systems rely on. It sets out the theoretical rationale and the empirical evidence for that shift, drawing on recent insights from developmental science, and discusses what it would take for accountability systems to incorporate individual children's experiences in practice.

    • Policy & Accountability
    • Child Voice

2010s

  • 2014Peer-reviewed

    The Berkeley Puppet Interview: A screening instrument for measuring psychopathology in young children

    Lisanne L. Stone, Carlijn van Daal, Marloes van der Maten, Rutger C. M. E. Engels, Jan M. A. M. Janssens, Roy OttenChild & Youth Care Forum 43(2), 211-225

    This study examined the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Berkeley Puppet Interview, an age-appropriate tool for gathering self-reports from young children about behavioural difficulties. The BPI was administered twice at a one-year interval to 300 children (mean age 7.04 years), while parents and teachers completed related questionnaires. The BPI subscales showed adequate congruent validity and sufficient test-retest reliability. The authors conclude that the BPI has adequate psychometric properties and that it lets clinicians incorporate children's own reported perspectives systematically into diagnostic evaluation, positioning the instrument as a screening tool rather than solely a research measure.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Longitudinal
  • 2013Peer-reviewed

    Young children's self-reported emotional, behavioral, and peer problems: The Berkeley Puppet Interview

    Anja P. Ringoot, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Henning Tiemeier, Frank C. Verhulst, Viara R. Mileva-Seitz, Hanan El Marroun, Vincent W. Jaddoe, Albert Hofman, Johan C. de Jeu, Jolien van der Velde, Frank VerhulstPsychological Assessment 25(4), 1273-1285

    Adult observers are typically the only informants on emotional and behavioral problems in young children. Although additional information can be provided by child self-report, few validated, structured instruments are available to obtain self-report from young children. The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI) has been developed to obtain structured self-reports on multiple domains of mental health and social well-being. This study was the 1st to evaluate the psychometric properties of the BPI in a large sample. We studied 8 a priori scales of the interview in a Dutch community sample of 6,375 children ages 5–7 years. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we demonstrated adequate fit (Tucker-Lewis index = .90; comparative fit index = .90; root-mean-square error of approximation = .03) of a multidimensional model with 50 items loading on 8 latent factors (Depression, Separation Anxiety, Overanxious, Oppositional Defiant, Overt Hostility, Conduct Problems, Bullied by Peers, and Peer Acceptance/Rejection). This model was invariant across gender. Children reported anxiety-related problems more frequently than depressive problems, behavioral problems, or difficulties in peer relations. Reliability analyses showed that 3 broadband scales designated as Internalizing, Externalizing, and Peer Relations were homogeneous constructs (αs = .68-.79). Higher scores on most BPI scales were associated with lower maternal education, lower family income, and non-Western ethnicity. Boys reported more behavioral and peer relation problems, whereas girls reported more emotional problems. The findings indicate that young children from socioeconomically and demographically diverse backgrounds are capable of providing valid, multidimensional information on their emotional, behavioral, and peer relation problems using the BPI. Young children's self-report is a promising addition to existing assessment tools.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Child Voice

2000s

  • 2005Peer-reviewed

    Psychometric evaluation of 5- and 7-year-old children's self-reports of conduct problems

    Louise Arseneault, Julia Kim-Cohen, Alan Taylor, Avshalom Caspi, Terrie E. MoffittJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology 33(5), 537-550

    Past research suggests that young children are incapable of reporting information about their own behavior problems. To test this, we examined the validity and the usefulness of children's self-reports in the E-Risk Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 children. We used the Berkeley Puppet Interview to obtain children's self-reports of conduct problems when they were 5-years old and the Dominic-R when they were 7-years old. We also collected information about the children and their families by interviewing mothers, sending questionnaires to teachers, and rating examiners' observations during home visits. Results indicate that when children's self-reports are gathered with structured and developmentally appropriate instruments, they are shown to be valid measures: conduct problems reported by the children themselves were associated with known correlates including individual characteristics (e.g., IQ), related behaviors (e.g., hyperactivity), and family variables (e.g., economic disadvantages). Observed correlations closely matched effect sizes reported in the literature using adults' reports of children's behavioral problems. In addition, children's self-reports can be useful: both measures distinguished children meeting DSM-IV criteria for research diagnoses of conduct disorder. Children's reports also contributed unique information not provided by adults. For research and clinical purposes, young children's self-reports can be viewed as a valuable complement to adults' ratings and observational measures of children's behavior problems.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Child Voice
  • 2004Peer-reviewed

    Evaluation of a puppet interview to measure young children's self-reports of temperament

    Janet H. Roth, Mark R. Dadds, John McAloonBehaviour Change 21(1), 37-56

    Structured child self-report measures are rarely used in the clinical assessment of children under the age of 7 to 8 years. This study developed and evaluated a puppet-based interview allowing young children to self-report temperamental traits, adapting items from the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory and testing two groups of 4- to 5-year-olds alongside independent behavioural observations. The interview showed moderate internal consistency and stability. Agreement between children's self-reports and parent or teacher ratings was low, although agreement between the adult raters themselves was comparable. The authors conclude that the puppet interview format shows promise for extending self-report below age 7, while illustrating the difficulties of placing young children's self-report within a multi-informant clinical framework.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Child Voice

1990s

  • 1999Peer-reviewed

    The MacArthur Three-City Outcome Study: Evaluating multi-informant measures of young children's symptomatology

    Jennifer C. Ablow, Jeffrey R. Measelle, Helena C. Kraemer, Richard Harrington, Joan Luby, Nancy Smider, Lisa Dierker, Vandana Clark, Bernadka Dubicka, Amy Heffelfinger, Marilyn J. Essex, David J. KupferJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 38(12), 1580-1590

    OBJECTIVE: Three sites collaborated to evaluate the reliability and validity of 2 measures, developed in tandem to assess symptomatology and impairment in 4- to 8-year-old children: the Berkeley Puppet Interview Symptomatology Scales (BPI-S) and the Health and Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ). METHOD: In this case-control study, mothers, teachers, and children reported on multiple dimensions of children's mental health for 120 children (67 community and 53 clinic-referred children). RESULTS: The BPI-S and the parent and teacher versions of the HBQ demonstrated strong test-retest reliability and discriminant validity on a majority of symptom scales. Medium to strong effect sizes (Cohen d) indicated that children in the clinic-referred group were viewed by all 3 informants as experiencing significantly higher levels of symptomatology than nonreferred, community children. CONCLUSION: The availability of a set of multi-informant instruments that are psychometrically sound, developed in tandem, and developmentally appropriate for young children will enhance researchers' ability to investigate and understand symptomatology or the emergence of symptomatology in middle childhood.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Child Voice
  • 1998Peer-reviewed

    Assessing young children's views of their academic, social, and emotional lives: An evaluation of the self-perception scales of the Berkeley Puppet Interview

    Jeffrey R. Measelle, Jennifer C. Ablow, Philip A. Cowan, Carolyn P. CowanChild Development 69(6), 1556-1576

    In a prospective, longitudinal study we examined the psychometric properties of the self-perception scales of the Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI). A total sample of 97 young children were assessed with the BPI at 3 time points: preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. The BPI assesses young children's self-perceptions of their school adjustment in 6 domains: academic competence, achievement motivation, social competence, peer acceptance, depression-anxiety, and aggression-hostility. Results showed that 4½- to 7½-year-olds possess a multidimensional self-concept that can be reliably measured and that the BPI is sensitive to normative changes and individual differences in young boys' and girls' views of themselves. Support for the method's validity was derived from consistent and meaningful patterns of convergence between children's self-perceptions and ratings by adult informants-mothers, fathers, and teachers-as well as standardized test scores. In fact, in this study, the concordance between young children's self-reports and parallel ratings by teachers or mothers were consistently as strong as if not stronger than the concordance between mothers' and teachers' ratings.

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Validation Study
    • Longitudinal
  • 1993Peer-reviewed

    Berkeley Puppet Interview: Administration and scoring system manuals

    Jennifer C. Ablow, Jeffrey R. Measelle

    The original administration and scoring manuals for the Berkeley Puppet Interview, developed by Ablow and Measelle at the University of California, Berkeley. The BPI uses two identical hand puppets (tan puppy dogs named Iggy and Ziggy) who make opposing first-person statements about themselves and then ask the child which one is more like them. Children may answer verbally, by pointing, or through other natural responses, and an extensive rule-based coding system captures that range of response styles. The instrument spans family relationships and processes, academic and social self-perceptions, clinical symptomatology, and Big Five personality factors, and is designed for children roughly ages 4 to 8. The manuals define the administration protocol and the coding rules that every subsequent BPI validation study relies on; the first psychometric evaluation was published five years later by Measelle, Ablow, Cowan and Cowan (1998).

    • BPI Psychometrics
    • Child Voice

Contributing to research

Have additional research on puppet-based interviews or child assessment methods? We would love to include it in the library. Send it to [email protected].