Psychometric Design and Testing of the Parenting Paradigms Scale

Abstract

This article describes the design and field testing of the 28-item Parenting Paradigms Scale, a measure of adults’ intentions, expectations, social attitudes, values, and behavioral assumptions related to parenting and parenthood. Items were developed by consensus by three parent focus groups that included 16 total participants; of these 16 parents, 10 were heterosexual parents and six were gay or lesbian parents. The parent groups developed prospective items describing parenting attitudes and expectations that reflected the four constructs of Izek Ajzen's (1982) Theory of Planned Behavior, a theoretical framework widely used to predict behavior. The resulting Parenting Paradigms Scale was reviewed for content validity, pilot tested, and administered to 340 lesbian and gay adults, ages 18 to 72 years, who were parents to at least 1 child under the age of 18 at the time of assessment. Principal axis factor analysis with Oblimin rotation supported four dimensions. The Parenting Paradigms Scale measure demonstrated reliability and validity as a measure of lesbian and gay adults’ social norms, assumptions, values, and expectations regarding parenting or planned parenting. Though initially field tested with sexual minority parents, it is anticipated that the measure can be used to assess parenting intention with any parent population.