Development and Validity of a Parenting Behavior Scale

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a Parenting Behavior Scale and to verify its reliability and validity. Altogether, seven types of parenting behaviors were extracted and 70 preliminary items were administered to 453 mothers and 52 fathers raising children ranging from 5 to 16 years old. 40 final items were selected. The results are summarized as follows. First, the results of the factor analysis for the 40 items showed 8 factors accounting for 58.17% of the total variances. Each of the 8 factors was correlated with positive parenting behaviors such as receptive discipline, warmth and support, respect as well as with negative parenting behaviors such as criticism and aggression, inappropriate role modeling, inconsistency, interference and neglect. Second, the reliability of the 8 factors ranged from .69 ~ .88. Third, the relationship between parenting behavior and parenting efficacy was examined with the results showing that positive behaviors along the parenting behavior scale were correlated with parenting efficacy while negative behaviors were seen to have an adverse effect on parenting efficacy. Fourth, cross-validation of parenting behaviors was verified with a reasonable level of reliability. In the conclusion, the implications and limitations of this study are discussed.