The Lum emotional availability of parents scale among Portuguese adolescents: a psychometric evaluation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Emotional availability of parents plays a crucial role in the psychological well-being and development of adolescents. However, previous studies have primarily focused on assessing maternal emotional availability. The Lum Emotional Availability of Parents (LEAP) scale was developed, considering both mothers’ and fathers’ emotional availability. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the LEAP scale among Portuguese adolescents (N = 202). The results confirmed the unifactorial structure of the LEAP scale. Convergent construct validity was supported. Specifically, adolescents’ perceptions of higher emotional availability from parents were related to better health-related quality of life. The LEAP scale also demonstrated small but positive associations with emotion regulation, with higher emotional availability being linked to lower use of expressive suppression and greater use of cognitive reappraisal. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the LEAP scale is a valid instrument for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of both mothers’ and fathers’ emotional availability.