Psychometric properties of the Chinese Metaparenting Profile Questionnaire Short-form

Abstract

Research on deliberate and mindful parenting constructs, including metaparenting, has become increasingly popular. However, this topic has not been widely examined in China and Hong Kong. To provide a psychometrically-sound instrument for such research endeavor in the region, this study adopted the Metaparenting Profile Questionnaire Short-form (MPPQ-S) by Holden (2008) and examined the psychometric properties of its Chinese version including its factor structure, internal reliability and concurrent validity. Participants were 293 Chinese mothers in Hong Kong with a focal child in elementary school. They were invited to complete a set of questionnaires measuring their metaparenting thoughts, parental sense of competence and satisfaction, and parenting practices. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the proposed five-factor structure of the Chinese MPPQ-S had an acceptable fit. The questionnaire also demonstrated adequate internal reliability, and was associated with parental competence and satisfaction as well as self-reported parenting practices which supported its concurrent validity. The overall results suggest that the Chinese MPPQ-S is a satisfactory measure of metaparenting thoughts in the Chinese context.