Investigation of the psychometric properties of the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale in the Southeastern European context

Abstract

The Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale (P-PASS) is an instrument designed to measure parental autonomy-support and control of late adolescents and emerging adults. The present paper examines the process of adapting the P-PASS to the Romanian culture. Four studies were conducted, investigating: 1) the adequacy of the translation, using a multidimensional scaling of expert ratings; 2) construct validity, through exploratory approaches; 3) various psychometric properties, such as reliability and construct validity, through confirmatory approaches; convergent validity through comparisons with other measures of parental autonomy support (College-Student Scale of the Perceptions of Parents Scales) and control (Psychological Control Scale–Youth Self-Report), and predictive validity in relation with general self-efficacy; 4) test-retest reliability. The results show that the Romanian version of the P-PASS has sound psychometric properties. Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicates that a structure with two second order factors fits the data best and that the measure is equivalent with the original Canadian version. Also, it shows adequate test-retest reliability at 6 months and one year between administrations, good convergent validity, and a good prediction of general self-efficacy.