The Chinese Parenting Stress Scale for Preschoolers’ Parents: Development and Initial Validation

Abstract

Parenting stress is the experience of discomfort or distress that results from the demands associated with the role of parenting. Although there are numerous parenting stress scales, relatively few scales have been developed with consideration of the Chinese cultural context. This study aimed to develop and validate the Chinese Parenting Stress Scale (CPSS) with a multidimensional and hierarchical structure for Mainland Chinese preschoolers’ parents ( N = 1,427, Mage = 35.63 years, SD = 4.69). In Study 1, a theoretical model and an initial 118 items were developed, drawing on prior research and existing measures of parenting stress. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 15 first-order factors with 60 items. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher order solution consisting of 15 first-order factors covering four domains: Child Development (12 items), Difficult Child (16 items), Parent–Child Interaction (12 items), and Parent’s Readjustment to Life (20 items). Measurement invariance indicated no gender differences between parents for the scale scores. The convergent, discriminant, and criteria validity of the CPSS scores was supported by its association with related variables in the expected directions. Moreover, the CPSS scores added significant incremental variance in predicting somatization, anxiety, and child’s emotional symptoms more so than the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form-15. The CPSS total and subscale scores all had acceptable Cronbach’s αs in both samples. The overall findings support the CPSS as a psychometrically sound tool.

Validation of Parental Attitudes Toward Preschoolers’ Career Education Measures in China

“…The maximum likelihood method (MLM) was applied for CFAs. Muti-criteria, such as χ 2 , the comparative fit index (CFI), the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), and the standardized root mean square residual (RMSEA), were included (Zhao et al, 2023). To compare different models, we followed the suggestion from Cheung and Rensvold (2002) that changes in CFI (4CFI) and TLI (4TLI) were less than .01, indicating invariance between the different models.…”

“…Additionally, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated for each factor, and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine the relationships among these factors. Following suggestions from Zhao et al (2023), Study Two involved three steps. Initially, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were performed to confirm the factor structure of parental attitudes toward preschoolers’ career education from Study One among a new independent sample (Sample Two).…”

“…Nevertheless, due to an increase in dual-earner parents, along with the promulgation of the Family Education Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China, fathers are now recognizing the significance of their roles in the family. They are becoming more engaged in child-rearing compared to previous times (Zhao et al, 2023). Additionally, an increasing number of Chinese parents are aware of the importance of co-parenting (Fan & Chen, 2019).…”

Psychometric properties of the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument: evidence from mainland China

“…However, we found only 32 records of family assessment using “family assessment” and “mainland China” and 121 records of family assessment using “family assessment” and “Hong Kong.” Besides, while there are validated translated instruments such as the Chinese version of Family Assessment Device (e.g., Wong et al, 2022 ), some important indigenous concepts of Chinese family functioning such as mutuality and avoidance of family conflict are lacking. Besides, although there are some existing Chinese family assessment tools, most of them are not comprehensive and only assess either family interaction (e.g., Wu et al, 2017 ) or parenting of Chinese families (e.g., Zhao et al, 2023 ). Furthermore, few studies have examined factorial validity of the different family functioning measures in China ( Cheng et al, 2011 ; Zheng and Yang, 2022 ).…”