Development and testing of the Nature Connectedness Parental Self-Efficacy (NCPSE) scale

Abstract

There is growing interest in nature connectedness and its benefits to people, and more recently to parents and their children. However, very little research exists that investigates the abilities parents have to engage their children in nature-related activities – parental self-efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design, develop and validate a new measure of Nature Connectedness Parental Self-Efficacy (NCPSE). The NCPSE scale was created through a review of the literature, focus groups with parents and experts in the area, and a pilot study (n = 154) to assess an initial item pool of questions. Full reliability and validity testing was then conducted with 362 parents from the general population and of these 83 completed a test-retest follow-up survey. Exploratory Factor Analysis and reliability testing resulted in a 22- item measure with four subscales: Accessing Nature, Communicating about Nature, Overcoming Personal Barriers, and Overcoming Situational Barriers. Validity was also tested using the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale, Nature Connectedness Index, and the WHO-5 wellbeing measure. The NCPSE demonstrated very good to excellent internal consistency as a whole and for each of its subscales, and is stable over time. Low to moderate correlations with the GSES, NCI and WHO-5 evidence the scales validity and illustrate that greater NCPSE is related to greater General Self-Efficacy, Nature Connectedness and Wellbeing of parents. NCPSE was also significantly and positively related to parental age and the average number of visits parents made to natural spaces each week either by themselves or together with their families. The evidence presented suggests that the NCPSE is a reliable and valid measure of parental self-efficacy related to nature connectedness. The scale may be useful when investigating the relationship between parent-child nature connectedness, specific population groups, and as a way of evaluating interventions designed to improve families’ connectedness to and engagement with nature.