The Empirical Development of the Child-Parent Communication Apprehension Scale for Use With Young Adults

Abstract

The empirical development of a Child-Parent Communication Apprehension scale for use with young adults (C-PCA, YA) is presented, along with tests of conceptual and predictive validity. An argument is made for the need to develop an instrument that distinguishes between a young adult's anxiety, or apprehension, about engaging in communication with his or her mother and father, or both, and general measures of parent-child interaction. Results indicate that the 12-item measure of C-PCA, YA developed for this research project is (a) a reliable measure of a young adult child's communication apprehension regarding both mother and father, (b) empirically distinct from both general parent-child communication and dyadic communication apprehension, and (c) useful for predicting satisfaction in the parent-child relationship, above and beyond general measures of parent-child interaction. Understanding and measuring the characteristics of young adults who are apprehensive about communicating with their parents are important steps toward advancing the study of family communication.