Psychometric Characteristics of the Parenting Scale in a Head Start Population

• Published in: Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 514 - 524
• Main Authors: Reitman, David, Currier, Rebecca O., Hupp, Stephen D. A., Rhode, Paula C., Murphy, Molly A., O'Callaghan, Patrick M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01.12.2001; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adult; Behavior; Child psychology; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Early Intervention (Education); Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Head Start programmes; Head Start project; Humans; Male; Measures; Mothers - psychology; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Parenting - ethnology; Parenting - psychology; Parenting skills; Parents; Parents & parenting; Population Surveillance; Preschool children; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales - standards; Psychometric properties; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results
• ISSN: 1537-4416; 0047-228X; 1537-4424
• DOI: 10.1207/S15374424JCCP3004_08

Examined the reliability, construct, and concurrent validity of the Parenting Scale (PS), a brief instrument designed to measure dysfunctional parenting practices for parents of young children. In Study 1, 183 primarily African American mothers and their Head Start children completed the PS. The PS, which consists of 3 subscales-Laxness, Overreactivity, and Verbosity-was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Neither the original 3-factor structure, nor a 2-factor structure consisting of the original Laxness and Overreactivity factors, fit the data. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis yielded a 2-factor solution that was generally consistent with the Overreactivity and Laxness subscales identified by Arnold, O'Leary, Wolff, and Acker (1993). The 2-factor CFA solution was replicated with a sample of 216 similar mothers, and the 5-item Overreactivity and Laxness subscales retained internal consistencies above .70. Analysis of the convergent validity of the modified PS and its 2 subscales revealed moderate associations with measures of permissiveness, authoritarianism, involvement, and limit setting. Scores on the PS were not correlated significantly with measures of social desirability, maternal education level, or parent report of internalizing behavior problems. Concurrent validity evidence was obtained by correlating the PS with measures of parenting satisfaction and support, parenting stress, maternal depression, and measures of externalizing child behavior problems.