Abstract
BackgroundExperiencing parental stress is common among parents of children of all ages and is elevated in families characterized by stressors such as poverty, mental health problems, and developmental problems. The Parental Stress Scale (PSS) is a short measure for the assessment of perceived stress resulting from being a parent.MethodsThis study examines the construct validity and psychometric properties of the Danish PSS using Rasch and graphical loglinear Rasch models in a sample of parents of 2–18-year-old children with and without known behavior problems. We emphasized analyses of differential item functioning, to ascertain whether the scale yields unbiased scores for subgroups of parents.ResultsThe 18-item PSS did not fit the Rasch model or a graphical loglinear Rasch model. After dichotomizing item responses and eliminating items 2 and 11, we found the PSS to consist of two distinct subscales measuring parental stress and lack of parental satisfaction. For the total sample, the Parental Stress subscale fit a very complex graphical loglinear Rasch model with differential item functioning relative to parental education and whether children had behavior problems or not. The Lack of Parental Satisfaction subscale fit a simple graphical loglinear Rasch model with differential item functioning only relative to subsample. When dividing into subsamples of parents of children with and without behavior problems, the Parental Stress subscale fit a simple graphical loglinear Rasch model, though still with differential item functioning, while the Lack of Parental Satisfaction subscale fit the Rasch model in each subsample of parents. Both subscales performed best for parents of children with behavior problems.ConclusionsThe PSS should be used in a 16-item version and scored as two subscales. The PSS appears better suited for use among parents of children with behavior problems than within a sample without any known difficulties.
Highlights
Experiencing parental stress is common among parents of children of all ages and is elevated in families characterized by stressors such as poverty, mental health problems, and developmental problems
First, we present the results of the analyses of the total sample of parents including both parents of children with no known behavior issues, and parents of children with known/diagnosed behavior problems
The Lack of Parental Satisfaction subscale (LPS) subscale fitted a pure Rasch model in the behavior sample, and a very simple graphical loglinear Rasch model (GLLRM) in the ordinary sample; we found no evidence of differential item functioning (DIF), and only local dependence between items 17 and 1, and 1 and 6
Summary
Experiencing parental stress is common among parents of children of all ages and is elevated in families characterized by stressors such as poverty, mental health problems, and developmental problems. The Parental Stress Scale (PSS) is a short measure for the assessment of perceived stress resulting from being a parent. Being responsible for the well-being and development of children is demanding, and can, at times, be overwhelming; mainly if parents have limited control over the stressors of everyday life [4]. Parental stress levels are not static and whether or not certain aspects of parenting are experienced as stressful or not depends on the person’s history, their current mental state and well-being and the developmental state of the child [4, 6]. Parental stress can have severe consequences as stress hormones modulate brain function by changing the neuron structure [7]. Changes include imbalances in the neural circuitry in the parent brain [7], and suppression or dysregulation of the immune system [8]
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