Psychometric properties of the Observing Mediational Interactions (OMI) coding system during mother-adolescent conflict discussions

BACKGROUND: Observational assessments of parent-adolescent conflict can guide interventions to prevent and reduce conflict and mental health problems. The authors identified the Observing Mediational Interactions (OMI) as a particularly useful coding system for examining parent-adolescent conflict. The OMI is the observational measure used in the Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (MISC) and quantifies emotional (attachment-based) and cognitive (learning-based) behaviors during caregiver-child interactions. OBJECTIVE: The overall aim of the current study was to tailor and evaluate the OMI specifically for observing conflict interactions. METHOD: Conflict discussions between 56 clinical youth aged 10-15 years and their mothers were coded using the OMI. Reliability, construct validity, and associations with affect following the conflict discussion were examined. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that the OMI demonstrated adequate internal consistency, interrater reliability, and construct validity in terms of associations with an alternate observational measure and parent-reported family functioning and stress. Additionally, mothers who engaged in fewer negative parenting behaviors reported greater positive affect following the conflict discussion, controlling for baseline affect. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, findings support the use of the OMI in future studies. While further research should attempt to extend findings to other populations and settings and elaborate the coding instructions as needed, researchers can use the OMI to inform ongoing adaptations of MISC and identify targets for prevention and intervention more broadly.