Parenting Stress Index-Short Form: psychometric properties of the Spanish version in mothers of children aged 0 to 8 years

The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse psychological effects on children and parents. While parenting is essential for positive development, increased parental distress has interfered with children’s wellbeing. In our study, we aimed to identify the predictors of parental distress in families of children with neuropsychiatric disorders during lockdown. Seventy-seven parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders were asked to fill three online questionnaires (a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Parental-Stress-Index (PSI-4-SF) to explore the relationship between parental distress, emotional/behavioral problems in children and quarantine-related factors through univariate analyses and multiple mediation models. Significant positive associations between CBCL-internalizing-problems and all PSI-4-SF subscales, and between CBCL-externalizing-problems and “Difficult Child” subscales were found. “Parent–Child Dysfunctional Interaction” subscale and teachers–child relationship quality resulted negatively associated, as well as the “Difficult Child” subscale and peers–child relationship quality. The effect of teachers–child relationship quality on “Parent–Child Dysfunctional Interaction” was mediated by children internalizing problems, while the effect of peers–child relationship quality on “Difficult Child” by the child internalizing/externalizing problems. Internalizing problems in children with neuropsychiatric disorders were among the strongest predictors of parental stress during lockdown, mediating the indirect effects of quarantine-related factors, thus suggesting the importance of their detection during and after emergency situations to provide assistance and reduce parenting pressure.

Section: Measures 221 Parental Stress Indexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Distress in the Time of COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study on Pediatric Patients with Neuropsychiatric Conditions during Lockdown

Sesso

Bonaventura

Buchignani

et al. 2021

“…In this context, and from a situational perspective, one type of stress that stands out is the one associated with the exercise of parenting. Taking into consideration one of the instruments most frequently used in the international literature to assess this dimension, the Parenting Stress Index—Short Form [ 8 ], at-risk families’ scores generally fall between 80 to 100 points in the total parental stress scale [ 7 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], whereas families from community samples score around 70 points [ 9 , 12 ]. This indicates that parents living in contexts of psychosocial risk tend to frequently feel overwhelmed by the demands derived from their parenting role [ 10 , 11 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Brief COPE: Measurement Invariance and Psychometric Properties among Community and At-Risk Portuguese Parents

Nunes

Pérez-Padilla

Martins

et al. 2021

Parenting generally brings about high internal and external demands, which can be perceived as stressful when they exceed families’ resources. When faced with such stressors, parents need to deploy several adaptive strategies to successfully overcome these challenges. One of such strategies is coping, an important cognitive and behavioural skill. In this study, we intended to examine the psychometric properties of Carver’s (1997) Brief COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced), extending its cross-cultural validity among a Portuguese sample of community and at-risk parents. The sample comprised community (n = 153) and at-risk (n = 116) parents who completed the brief COPE, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales and the Parenting Stress Index—Short Form. Confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, cross sample invariance, convergent and discriminant validity were analysed. Data from the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the 14-factor model obtained the best fit. The results provided evidence that the Brief COPE is a psychometrically sound instrument that shows measurement invariance across samples and good reliability. Our findings demonstrated that the Portuguese version of brief COPE is a useful, time-efficient tool for both practitioners and researchers who need to assess coping strategies, a relevant construct in family context.

“…(2) The PSI/SF [11] is a 36-item scale that assesses parental stress that has been utilized worldwide and is proven to be useful in families of children with different intellectual and/or developmental disabilities [2,[26][27][28][29]56,61]. The Spanish version has shown adequate psychometric properties for assessing stress in children under 12 years [62,63], children aged 0 to 8 years [64], and the stress of relatives of individuals with intellectual disabilities aged from 4 to 72 years [65]. The items are grouped into three subscales whose reliability indexes for the current study are included in parenthesis: (1) Difficult child (α = 0.89) measures a child's self-regulatory abilities as perceived by the parent;…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Stress and Family Quality of Life: Surveying Family Members of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Río

Flores

Gutiérrez-Bermejo

et al. 2020

(1) Background. This study assesses the quality of life in families with a member with an intellectual disability using the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response framework. (2) Methods. The study included 515 Spanish participants whose family members with disabilities range in age from infancy to adulthood. We hypothesized that it is possible to predict parenting stress by paying attention to the meaning families give to themselves and their circumstances while controlling for the impact of other variables such as family capabilities and characteristics of the family member with disabilities. We used the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale and the section on Exceptional needs of medical and behavioral support from the Supports Intensity Scale, together with other potential predictors. The subscale on parental stress from the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form was utilized as a criterion measure. (3) Results. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that 49% of parental stress was predicted by dysfunctional interaction, difficult behaviors, low emotional wellbeing, poor family interaction, as well as kinship as parents, and the severity of both the medical needs and intellectual disability. (4) Conclusions. The stress experienced by those families is mostly predicted by the meaning they give to themselves and their circumstances. Implications of these findings for service delivery are discussed.