Malaysian Parent Ratings of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire–Short Form: Factor Structure and Invariance across Girls and Boys and Mothers and Fathers

Abstract

SYNOPSISObjective. The short version of the Parent-Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (Parent-PARQ/S; Rohner, 2005) measures current parental acceptance and rejection of their children. It has four scales measuring coldness/lack of affection, hostility/aggression, indifference/neglect, and undifferentiated rejection. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Parent-PARQ/S. Design. A sample of 1,382 Malaysian parents completed the Parent-PARQ/S. Results. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a slightly modified version of the proposed 4-factor model (i.e., item number 13 reallocated to coldness/lack of affection factor instead of the proposed indifference/neglect factor). Cronbach’s α coefficients of the factors in this model ranged from .65 to .77, and the factors correlated significantly and positively with measures of child problem behaviors. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated support for invariance across parent ratings of their female and male children, and between mother and father ratings of their children. Conclusion. The findings indicate good support for the psychometric properties of the Parent-PARQ/S in a Malaysian sample.