A Validity Testing Study of Parent Attitude Scale (PAS) for the Parents Who Have Children Between 7 and 11
Telat Gül Şendil, Duygu Akyüz, Büşra Eylem AktaşAs children’s socialization changes, the areas on which parents’ attitudes focus also change. Middle childhood (age 7–11 years) is a special developmental period in which children experience changes in their physical, cognitive, and socialization aspects. However, few studies have investigated parental attitudes toward middle childhood. There are various measurement tools for parental attitudes. In our country, these tools are generally used to measure authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive dimensions, but not the overprotective dimension, which is the subject of an increasing number of studies. In Turkish literature, the only scale used to evaluate the overprotective dimension in addition to the authoritative, authoritarian and permissive dimensions is the Parent Attitude Scale (PAS). In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether PAS is a psychometrically adequate scale to measure the parental attitudes toward middle childhood. A total of 392 participants (260 mothers, 121 fathers, and 11 participants of unspecified gender) were included. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a four-dimensional structure consisting of 42 items encompassing the authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and overprotective dimensions was supported. Meanwhile, the results of the interdimensional correlation analysis showed that authoritative–authoritarian was negatively correlated to authoritative– permissive, while permissive–authoritarian was positively correlated to permissive–overprotective; no significant relationship was found with overprotective–authoritative. The results of the formal, metric, and scale invariance tests showed the applicability of PAS to both parents. Cronbach’s Alpha internal consistency coefficients, correlations between dimensions and test–retest results obtained within the scope of the reliability analysis also supported that the reliability level of the scale was at a desirable level. In conclusion, PAS is a valid and reliable scale applicable to parents with children aged 7–11 years.
Ebeveyn Tutum Ölçeği’nin (ETÖ) 7-11 Yaş Çocuklarının Ebeveynleri için Geçerlik Sınama Çalışması
Telat Gül Şendil, Duygu Akyüz, Büşra Eylem AktaşÇocukların sosyalleşme alanları değiştikçe anne babaların sergiledikleri tutumların odaklandığı alanlar da değişmektedir. Orta çocukluk dönemi de çocukların fiziksel, bilişsel ve sosyalleşme alanlarında değişimler yaşadığı özel bir gelişimsel süreçtir. Ancak orta çocukluk döneminde ebeveyn tutumlarının daha nadir çalışıldığı görülmektedir. Alanyazında ebeveyn tutumlarını ölçen çeşitli ölçme araçları bulunmaktadır. Orta çocukluk dönemindeki ebeveyn tutumlarını ölçmek üzere ülkemizde kullanılan ölçekler incelendiğinde bu ölçeklerin genellikle demokratik, otoriter ve izin verici boyutları ölçmeye odaklandıkları; giderek artan sayıda çalışmanın konusu olan aşırı koruyucu tutum boyutunu içermedikleri göze çarpmaktadır. Türkçe alanyazında, aşırı koruyucu tutum boyutunu demokratik, otoriter ve izin verici boyutlarıyla birlikte değerlendiren tek ölçeğin erken çocukluk döneminde ebeveynlerin tutumlarını ölçmek üzere geliştirilen Ebeveyn Tutum Ölçeği (ETÖ) olduğu bilinmektedir. Bu nedenle bu çalışmada, orta çocukluk döneminde çocuğu olan ebeveynlerin tutumlarını ölçmek üzere, ETÖ'nün psikometrik açıdan uygun bir ölçek olup olmadığının değerlendirilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Araştırmaya toplam 392 kişi (260 anne, 121 baba, 11 cinsiyet belirtmemiş katılımcı) katılmıştır. Doğrulayıcı faktör analizi sonucunda demokratik, otoriter, izin verici ve aşırı koruyucu olmak üzere 42 maddeden oluşan dört boyutlu yapı desteklenmiştir. Boyutlar arası korelasyon analizi sonuçları, demokratik-otoriter ve demokratik-izin verici arasında olumsuz yönde, izin verici-otoriter ve izin verici-aşırı koruyucu arasında olumlu yönde anlamlı ilişki olduğunu göstermiş; aşırı koruyucudemokratik arasında anlamlı ilişki bulunmamıştır. Ölçüm değişmezliği analizini sınamak amacıyla yapılan biçimsel, metrik ve ölçek değişmezliği testleri sonuçları, ölçeğin her iki ebeveyne de uygulanabileceğini göstermiştir. Ölçümün güvenirlik analizleri kapsamında elde edilen Cronbach Alfa iç tutarlık ve test-tekrar test durağanlık katsayıları da güvenirlik düzeyinin istenir düzeyde olduğunu desteklemiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar ETÖ’nün 7-11 yaş arası çocuğu olan ebeveynlere uygulanabilecek geçerli ve güvenilir bir ölçek olduğuna dair kanıtlar sunmuştur.
Parents adopt different methods to convey their mental schemas and expectations. The diversity in parental attitudes and behaviors concerning a child’s socialization has been examined within the framework of the developmental psychology of parenting attitudes. In this context, researchers have explored parental attitudes in various dimensions, investigating the links between these dimensions and the social outcomes throughout the development of the child. Several studies on parental attitudes have shown that different dimensions of parental attitudes affect the social-emotional, cognitive, moral, and personality development of children in different age groups (Baumrind, 1966; Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Pinquart & Fischer, 2022; Sahithya et al., 2019; Vasquez et al., 2016). Given the wide range of attitudes and behaviors when raising a child, as reflected in the behavior of children, examining different parental attitudes by considering developmental changes has become a substantial topic in the field of social and developmental psychology. Thus, different measurement tools have been developed to explore the relationships between parental attitudes and socialization outcomes of children from different perspectives. In Turkey, these scales address the parents of children in different developmental periods. However, to the best of our knowledge, no Turkish scale addressing the parental attitudes toward 7–11-year-old children has covered all authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and overprotective parental attitudes. The Parent Attitude Scale (PAS) is a valid and reliable measure developed by Karabulut-Demir and Şendil (2008) that addresses the four distinct parental attitudes (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and overprotective) toward children aged 2–6 years. PAS is used to examine the suitableness of the scale for parents with children 7–11 years of age, which is the period had been less covered in Turkish scales on parental attitude. Studies evaluating parental attitudes toward middle childhood often focus on democratic, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles; toward during adolescence or early childhood, overprotective parenting is more commonly studied (Sümer et al., 2010). However, this age period also signifies a time when the importance of overprotectiveness in parental attitudes might increase, given the new experiences in the social life of children. In Turkey, tools used to measure democratic, authoritarian, permissive, and overprotective parenting attitudes toward middle childhood are few. Addressing this gap would be valuable for studies aiming to longitudinally examine the four different parenting attitudes. First, since previous parental attitude scales covering that age period do not assess overprotective parental attitudes on school-age children, an adaptation of the PAS for 7–11 years of age, allows comparison of the impacts of four distinct parenting attitudes on social developmental outcomes. Second, using PAS, parental attitudes toward children aged 2–11 years can be measured by a single, homogenous measurement that address the same parenting dimensions. PAS may assist future studies aiming to see the differential impacts of parenting longitudinally beginning from early childhood to the end of late childhood.
Methods
A total of 392 participants (260 mothers, 121 fathers, and 11 participants unspecified gender) with children aged 7–11 years volunteered to this study. Demographic information included age, gender, education levels, and occupations of both mothers and fathers and the age and gender of their children (see Table 1). PAS is a 5-point Likert-type scale with 46 items. Cronbach’s alpha values of sub-dimensions for authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and overprotective parenting were .83, .76, .74, and .75, respectively.
First, the participants answered online questionnaires by Qualtrics. The estimated time to fill out the forms was 10 minutes. Next, the participants were contacted 2 weeks later via e-mail for test–retest analysis.
The data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and Jamovi (2019) program and the R supplemental package by Rosseel et al. (2018). Outliers (N = 40) were removed from the data set (N = 392) according to Mahalanobis distance criteria. Analyzes were carried out by assigning mean values to missing cases. Jamovi (2019) program and the R supplementary package by Rosseel et al. (2018) were used to test the compatibility of the model with the data with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Results
Since the results of the CFA indicated that the model did not fit well, items 13, 45, 24, and 30 with a factor load of <.30 were first removed from the scale (Büyüköztürk, 2010; Thurston, 1938) and in the final form, the scale consisted of 42 items. After making the suggested modifications (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1993), the chi-square model fit value and degrees of freedom were 1333 and 800, respectively (p < .001, χ2/df = 1.997). RMSEA, SRMR, CFI, and TLI values were .0412, .0627, .88, and .871, respectively (Table 2). The model of the four-factor structure in its final form and the contents of the scale items are given in Table 3. Accordingly, the first factor (authoritative) consists of 16 items, the second factor (authoritarian) consists of 10 items, the third factor (overprotective) consists of nine items, and the fourth factor (permissive) consists of seven items.
Within the scope of construct validity, the correlation of the dimensions with each other was tested; a moderately negative and significant relationship between authoritative and authoritarian; a low-degree negative and significant relationship between authoritative and permissive; a low-degree positive and significant relationship between authoritarian and permissive direction; and a low-degree positive and significant relationship between the permissive and overprotective. There was no significant relationship between the overprotective and authoritative (Table 4). Then, to understand whether the interpretation of the scale items by the parents were equivalent, measurement invariance was tested based on CFA (Table 5). The application of the PAS 7–11 scale to mothers and fathers may not pose a problem in terms of measurement invariance. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was found at an adequate level for each subscale (Büyüköztürk, 2010; Table 4). Finally, as a result of the t-test analysis performed to determine whether the scores of the participants from the dimensions differ according to the gender of the parents, there was a significant difference only in the permissive attitude dimension (t(379) = −2.74, p < .01).
Discussion
In this study, PAS for parents of children aged 7–11 years had an adequate construct and internal validity. The variance rate per the four-factor structure and the ratios of variance per each sub-dimension (except the permissive parenting) were higher than the ratios obtained in the original scale. CFA results confirmed the 42-item and four-factor structure of the scale after the application of suggested modifications. PAS for parents of children aged 7–11 years was a valid and reliable measurement tool, which in turn would contribute to the relevant literature.
The significance of this study is underscored by the limited research available on parental attitudes during middle childhood (Sümer et al., 2010). An important aspect of this study, therefore, is its approach to assess the attitudes of both mothers and fathers; among the 392 participants, 121 were fathers. The analysis of measurement invariance conducted as part of the validity assessments confirmed that the scale was applicable to both mothers and fathers. This versatility is expected to provide a broader understanding of parental attitudes in future research. Additionally, the reduction of scale items from 46 to 42 enhances the scale’s ease of use. However, the present study had a limitation, in which the correlations between other scales examining parental attitudes to establish its construct validity were not evaluated.
Between parents, fathers were more permissive than mothers. The difference in attitude between mothers and fathers suggests that mothers might take a more active and guiding role in parenting compared to fathers. A previous study in Turkey found that adolescents most frequently perceived their fathers’ attitudes as permissive (Subaşı & Özçelik, 2019). Further research is necessary to understand the underlying reasons for these disparities in parental attitudes.
In conclusion, this study explored four distinct dimensions of parental attitudes toward children from early childhood to adolescence and utilizes the widely accepted PAS. Since the present study does not directly aim to investigate the differences between mothers and fathers, these findings should be considered in future research. Our findings may significantly benefit future research aiming to investigate the connections between parental attitudes and related variables.
