Confirmation of the five-factor structure of the Parent Global Report version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire in a Polish community sample

Abstract

Since parenting practices have been shown to play an important role in the development of a child's emotional, cognitive and social functioning, it is important to reliably measure this construct across various cultures and countries. A widely used instrument to assess parenting practices is the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ). However, no previous studies have verified the five-factor structure of this measure using confirmatory factor analysis. The aim of this study was to verify factor structure and examine psychometric properties of the Parent Global Report version of the APQ in a Polish sample. A total of 911 mothers and 497 fathers of children in the age range of 6-13 years from the community sample completed the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire as well as the Rating Scales for Parents assessing symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the five-factor model is characterized by a good fit in the Polish sample of mothers and quite a good fit in the sample of fathers. The Polish version of the APQ has a good construct validity. Children's ODD symptoms were positively correlated with negative parenting practices and negatively with positive parenting practices. Children's ADHD symptoms were the most strongly correlated with the inconsistent discipline subscale. Relations between ADHD and ODD symptoms and positive parenting practices were lower than with negative parenting practices. Our study confirms the five-factor structure of the Polish version of the APQ for parents and shows that parenting practices can be reliably measured in a Polish sample with the use of the Parent Global Report version of the APQ.

Measurement Invariance of Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Across Age, Gender, Clinical Status, and Informant

“…Specifically, the original model of APQ-lg is by far the most utilized and the one with the strongest empirical and theoretical support. The validity and utility of Model 1 were shown in a wide variety of research and practice settings (e.g., Cova et al, 2020; Hawes & Dadds, 2006; Święcicka et al, 2019). We also compared Model 1 with the concurrent models to find whether our decision was corroborated by the statistical analyses.…”

“…Specifically, they found excellent values for root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA; i.e., <.6). Święcicka et al (2019) found acceptable values for Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) and comparative fit index (CFI; i.e., >.90) for mother report but questionable ones for the father report (i.e., >.82). Nogueira et al (2020) obtained analogous values for CFI and TLI (i.e., >.81) for the Parent Global Report.…”

“…The comparison that arguably holds the highest clinical and theoretical relevance is the one between clinical and nonclinical samples. For instance, adolescents with mental health problems are likely to report more dysfunctional and less functional parenting practices (Essau et al, 2006; Pinquart, 2017; Święcicka et al, 2019). However, we could not be confident that the presence and magnitude of these differences are accurate until the measurement invariance is attested (Chen, 2008).…”

The changes of parental functioning of the patients with bipolar disorder and major depression since discharging from hospital: A longitudinal study

“…The APQ parent global form instrument was chosen because it has been used in several studies as a self‐reporting measure examining the relationship between effective parenting and children's behavioural, emotional and social problems and parent–child relationships. (Dadds et al, 2003; Nomanbhoy & Hawkins, 2018; Święcicka et al, 2019; Zlomke et al, 2014). Psychometric testing of the APQ parent global form in parents with 6–18 years of school‐age children showed good validity and reliability (Zlomke et al, 2014).…”

Family involvement in child welfare services: The association between socio‐economic status and self‐reported parenting practices

“…The APQ has shown acceptable or good reliability and validity. However, the factor structure of the APQ has varied in previous studies (Święcicka et al, 2019). To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have used the APQ in a child welfare population context.…”