Scale of Parental Playfulness Attitude (PaPA): Psychometric Properties With Latino Caregivers in the United States

Abstract

Parent-child play is a beneficial and meaningful co-occupation. Therapists who want to optimize parent-child play for Latino- and Latina-American dyads need valid, reliable measures to assess caregiver playfulness in addition to preexisting measures of child playfulness. To evaluate data collected from Latino-American caregivers with the Scale of Parental Playfulness Attitude (PaPA), a 28-item parent self-report to determine its construct validity, internal reliability, and cross-cultural validity. Quantitative exploratory design applying a latent-trait psychometric model. Online survey. Convenience sample of 50 Spanish-speaking parents from the mainland United States recruited via snowballing (88% mothers, ages 24-47 yr; M = 34.8 yr; 82% first-generation Americans). The inclusion criteria were age ≥18 yr; literate in Spanish; primary caregiver to a child age 2.5-7 yr. Data from an existing sample of 50 parents dwelling in Puerto Rico were used to examine cross-cultural validity. Rasch analysis demonstrated evidence for adequate construct validity: positive point-measure correlations, 93% fit of items, logical item hierarchy, and good progression of the rating scale. Range and mean for parent playfulness exceeded those of the items; principal-components analysis revealed one contrast of 4.46 eigenvalues, bringing unidimensionality into question. Evidence suggested excellent internal reliability (person-reliability index = 0.85, strata = 3.55) and good cross-cultural validity (25 of 28 items formed a similar hierarchy for parents dwelling in the mainland United States and Puerto Rico). Although the PaPA can be used to assess caregiver playfulness with culturally diverse Latino-American dyads, further research is required. What This Article Adds: This study provides evidence for the construct validity and internal reliability of a tool that measures parent playfulness in the context of parent-child play. The PaPA is an important tool for occupational therapists working with Latino-American families.