Culturally Informed Parenting Assessment: The Adaptation of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire with Input from Ugandan Experts and Parents

Abstract

While parenting practices significantly influence children's developmental outcomes on a global scale, there has been limited comprehensive assessment of the cultural appropriateness of global parenting questionnaires in diverse cultural contexts by researchers. This study examined the cultural relevance of items on a global measure of parenting, the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) within a Ugandan context. Transcultural adaptations followed a seven-step methodology, integrating validated models for cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Semi-structured interviews with 14 local experts and cognitive interviews with 16 parents provided crucial feedback for revising the 42-item APQ scale. This transcultural adaptation process resulted into a 32-item adapted APQ tailored for the Ugandan context. Feedback from experts and parents led to the incorporation of five additional items reflecting important parenting practices in the target Uganda setting. This research is notable for its contribution to the decolonization of parenting assessment instruments, centered on the perspectives of participants in a culturally diverse context. The availability of a culturally adapted parenting measure holds significance for clinicians and researchers as it enables a more efficient and culturally sensitive evaluation of parenting practices. Furthermore, utilizing such a measure facilitates a deeper understanding of the components of parenting warranting attention in the development of interventions for parents in the target setting.