Parent-child relationships serve as the foundation for social emotional competence in young children. To support the healthy social emotional development of their children, parents may need to acquire information, resources, and skills through interventions that are based upon assessment of parent competence. This manuscript presents results from a study of parents of toddlers and the practitioners who serve them in a suburban area of the Pacific Northwest. The purpose of the study was to conduct initial psychometric studies on a curriculum-based tool, the Social Emotional Assessment Measure (SEAM), focused on improving parent-child interactions for parents of toddlers. Convergent validity and utility were investigated for the SEAM Parent-Toddler Interval. Findings suggest that the SEAM Parent-Toddler Interval is an appropriate tool that can identify the strengths and needs of parents and assist in designing quality interventions that might alter developmental trajectories, leading to improved family and child outcomes.

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