Warshak Parent Questionnaire
Warshak Parent Questionnaire – Second Edition (WPQ-2)
QuickLinks: Online Administration and Report | WPQ Report | Benefits of the WPQ | For Attorneys | Special Introductory Offer | FAQ | Booklet Administration | To Order; Booklet Mailing Information
A thorough evaluation of children and adolescents requires a great deal of information from parents. Failing to consider all essential facts about a child’s psychological, educational, and social functioning can lead to inaccurate conclusions and expose professionals and agencies to complaints about their work. Professionals use the WPQ to improve the quality of their consultations and evaluations and to document their work. The WPQ is a cost-effective means to elicit comprehensive data with no additional investment of the professional’s time.
- Used since 1988 by custody evaluators, attorneys, mediators, and therapists throughout the English-speaking world to learn about the needs of children who are the subject of custody disputes, and as part of assessments and evaluations of children and adolescents in inpatient and outpatient settings.
- Provides a quick, convenient, and inexpensive overview of children’s developmental, family, educational, and psycho-social history and current status as reported by a parent.
- Identifies important needs of each child in the family that can be addressed in counseling, therapy, educational planning conferences such as A.R.D. meetings, custody evaluations, social studies, collaborative meetings, negotiations, mediation, and litigation.
- Provides a history of each parent’s psychological problems as reported by the parent completing the questionnaire.
- Provides information relevant to a parent’s view of a child’s differential treatment of parents — which bears on issues regarding a child’s possible alienation from a parent. Thirteen questions address issues regarding a child’s possible alienation from a parent without tying the responses to any one framework for understanding such problems.
Online Administration and Report
- The questionnaire is administered online wherever internet access is available.
- Questions are tailored: only items germane to a particular child are presented.
- Drop-down menus ensure that questions are answered appropriately.
- Respondents can provide any additional relevant explanatory information
- A comprehensive narrative report is emailed to you the instant the parent completes the WPQ. View a sample report.
- The questionnaire report is presented in a natural, flowing text style.
- The report is easy to “cut and paste” into your own evaluation report.
What is included in the WPQ report?
- A complete, organized, developmental history
- Suggestions of possible relevant DSM-IV diagnoses
- Parents’ knowledge of their children’s problems, temperament, and personality strengths
- Comparison of relative involvement of mother and father in direct contact with child
- Family history of psychological problems on both sides of the family
- Stressful and traumatic life events history (DSM Axis IV)
- Data on family constellation, including stepparents and stepsiblings
- School adjustment, child's temperament, medical history (as reported by parent)
- Ratings of child’s self-esteem and peer relations
- Information on the child’s rejection of a parent (whether reasonable or unreasonable)
Benefits of the WPQ
- Helps parents clarify and organize their perceptions of their child, thus better preparing them for the initial consultation.
- Helps create a positive first impression with parents, who are reassured that the professional is concerned with obtaining a comprehensive view of their child’s assets and liabilities
- Creates a permanent record that documents the thoroughness of an evaluation (e.g., for legal purposes or reviews by third party payers)
- Provides a means of obtaining detailed information from parents in situations where one may want to limit direct contact. In evaluating suspicious or highly resistant adolescents, for example, too much contact with parents in the initial phases of the evaluation, can increase the adolescent’s worry that the therapist is acting merely as an agent of the parents. This can interfere with the establishment of a good working alliance. Yet the clinician may require developmental data that are best supplied by parents, in order to determine the nature of the adolescent’s problems and the appropriate approaches to treatment. The WPQ alleviates this dilemma by providing an alternative avenue for parental input.
- Compatible with various theoretical approaches to childhood problems, such as developmental, psychoanalytic, information-processing, biochemical and genetic contributions, environmental influences, temperament
- Provides valuable descriptive information lacking in standard parent questionnaires
- Surveys positive personality attributes to balance the usual focus on pathology found in most mental health questionnaires
Read a comprehensive description of the rationale, benefits, and distinguishing features of the WPQ.
For Attorneys
- In addition to the benefits described above, of special interest to attorneys are the following portions of the WPQ user-friendly report:
- A quick, convenient, and inexpensive overview of your client’s children.
- Identification of important needs of each child in the family that can be addressed with your client in planning for negotiation sessions, collaborative meetings, mediation, custody evaluations, social studies, and litigations
- Reveals deficiencies in your client’s knowledge of relevant details about the children. These deficiencies may be remedied at the outset of the litigation to improve your client’s parenting skills both to benefit the children and to strengthen the client’s position in the negotiations and litigation.
- A history of each parent’s psychological problems as seen through the eyes of your client. This information can inform positions taken in collaborative approaches and litigation.
- Highlights information relevant to your client’s view of a child’s differential treatment of parents — which bears on issues regarding a child’s possible alienation from a parent.
Special Introductory Offer — Act Now to Lock In Savings for Two Years
To acquaint professionals with the WPQ online edition, each new account will be credited with two free administrations, with no obligation to purchase additional reports. Also, we offer a bonus of 1 additional report for every 4 reports ordered. This amounts to a 20% discount. If you purchase 20 reports within your first year, this qualifies you as a charter customer and locks in the discount and the current price for one additional year, regardless of any price increases. View a sample report, and set up an account to get started with your free, no-obligation, administrations.
Booklet Administration
The WPQ is also available in booklet form for parents to complete by hand. The booklet form includes symptom checklists keyed to the DSM-IV, but does not include any report and does not present the questions relevant to a child’s differential treatment of parents. Order WPQ Parent Response Booklets and the WPQ Manual below under "Items Available."
To Order
Order WPQ Parent Response Booklets and/or WPQ Manual (no report) with a credit card below under "Items Available."
Order WPQ Parent Response Booklets and/or WPQ Manual (no report) with a check click here.
For mailing Information, click here.
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Items Available
WPQ01 - Starter Set (Manual & 10 Parent Response Booklets) $25.95
WPQ02 - Package of 10 Parent Response
Booklets $24.95
WPQ03 - Package of 100 Parent Response Booklets $234.95
WPQ04 - Manual $9.95
