Psychometric properties of an adapted version of the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale for Portuguese at-risk parents

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Nunes, C., Jiménez, L., Menéndez, S., Ayala-Nunes, L. and Hidalgo, V. (2014), Psychometric properties of an adapted version of the parental sense of competence (PSOC) scale for Portuguese at-risk parents. Child & Family Social Work. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12159, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12159 . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving." For Peer Review PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIE S OF AN ADAPTED VERSION OF THE PARENTAL SENSE OF COMPETENCE (PSOC) SCALE FOR PORTUGUESE AT-RISK PARENTS Journal: Child & Family Social Work Manuscript ID: CFSW-12-13-0145.R1 Manuscript Type: Original Article Keywords: Parental Competence/Parents with Learning Difficulties, Risk in Social Work, Assessment, Child Protection Child & Family Social Work For Peer Review PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF AN ADAPTED VERSION OF THE PARENTAL SENSE OF COMPETENCE (PSOC) SCALE FOR PORTUGUESE AT-RISK PARENTS Abstract Parental sense of competence is one of the central dimensions targeted on psychosocial interventions aimed at supporting at-risk families. Researchers and practitioners need reliable instruments to assess the parental role adapted for these families. Although the Parental Sense of Competence (PSOC) scale has been frequently used to assess this construct, there is still no adapted version for Portuguese parents. In this study, the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the PSOC scale is examined with a clinical sample of 146 mothers from at-risk families receiving psychosocial interventions for family preservation from Child Protective Services. Results show that the Portuguese version of the PSOC measures three distinct constructs with acceptable psychometric properties: Efficacy, dissatisfaction, and controllability. As expected, the obtained factors were significantly and positively related to parenting alliance and family cohesion, and negatively associated with parenting stress. In sum, the proposed Portuguese version shows reliability and validity evidences to measure three relevant dimensions of parental self-evaluation, and it constitutes a cost- and time-effective instrument suited for at-risk mothers. Keywords: assessment, parental competence, risk in social work, child protection. Page 1 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review INTRODUCTION Nowadays, family preservation interventions are directed not only to avoid children out- of-home placement but also to strengthen parental competences. As a consequence, Child Protective Services interventions have a preventive and positive orientation that is aimed at families with diverse profiles and risk levels (Sanders & Cann, 2002). Although there is no standard definition of at-risk families, this term refers to families that have difficulties to adequately meet children’s needs, but not severely enough to require children’s placement in foster care (Rodrigo et al. 2012; Sanders & Cann, 2002). For these families, preservation interventions go beyond the classical clinical therapeutic approach and focus on child and family well-being. Specifically, parenting group interventions provide an approach that may be more cost-effective than individual interventions, offering the opportunity for mutual support and the building of informal support relationships (Lindsay et al. 2011; Rodrigo et al. 2012). One of the central dimensions addressed by these interventions is parental sense of competence. The importance of this construct is demonstrated by the large amount of research that has focused on its measurement (Coleman & Karraker, 2000; Lovejoy et al. 1997) and on its impact on parent, child, and family outcomes (for a review, see Jones & Prinz, 2005). Parental sense of competence has received multiple designations, such as parental self-esteem, self-efficacy, or perceived control, which highlight the underlying theoretical approach (for a more detailed description, see Bugental et al., 1998; Carpenter & Donohue, 2006; Coleman & Karraker, 1997, 2000; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Sabatelli & Waldron, 1995). Despite this variability, all these approaches include two global components: cognitive and emotional self-perceptions of parenting. The former consists of the beliefs or judgments that parents hold about their abilities to perform Page 2 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review parenting-related tasks (Farkas & Valdés, 2010; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Montigny & Lacharité, 2005) and to influence children and their environment in ways that will promote children’s positive development (Ardelt & Eccles, 2001). The latter, emotional component, consists of the satisfaction derived from the parenting role (Johnston & Mash, 1989), which is the positive result of the comparison between obtained results in parenting and prior expectations (Sabatelly & Waldron, 1995). Parental sense of competence has been associated with a wide array of parental outcomes, such as parental behavior and competence (Coleman & Karraker 1997; Gelkopf & Jabotaro, 2013; Shumow & Lomax, 2002), parental depression (Gondoli & Silverberg, 1997; Teti & Gelfand, 1991), or parenting stress (Begle & Dumas, 2011; Bloomfield & Kendall, 2012; Erdwins et al. 2001). The psychological adjustment of parents, in turn, is linked to parental sense of competence and children’s adjustment. Specifically, many studies have found a positive relation between parental sense of competence and children’s adjusted behavior (Coleman & Karraker, 2000), positive socio-emotional functioning, and academic achievement (Ardelt & Eccles, 2001; Hill & Bush, 2001). Furthermore, indirect relations between parental sense of competence and both potential child abuse (Begle & Dumas, 2011) and child maltreatment (Mammen et al. 2003) have been drawn. In this line, there is empirical evidence about parental sense of competence as a protective factor that moderates the effects of risk factors, such as maternal depression and children’s difficult temperament (Farkas & Valdés, 2010; Gondoli & Silverberg, 1997), and as a buffer of the effects of adversity in families living in disadvantaged environments (Ardelt & Eccles, 2001). Parental sense of competence has also been associated with other family dimensions, such as indicators of both marital relation and family functioning (Jones & Prinz, 2005; Ohan et al. 2000; Sevigny & Loutzenhiser, 2010). Page 3 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review All these findings point out to the importance of assessing the determinants of parental sense of competence (Sevigny & Loutzenhiser, 2010), particularly with parents that face adverse circumstances that undermine their parenting, which threaten child well-being. Research has shown that parental sense of competence in families at psychosocial risk has features somewhat different from those in the community population (Menéndez et al. 2011; Rodrigo & Byrne, 2011). Specifically, parents from families at psychosocial risk tend to perceive themselves as being less competent in their parenting role (Coleman & Karraker, 1997; Raikes & Thompson, 2005). Moreover, the perception that at-risk parents have about their own skills may be distorted because parents under social stress tend to evaluate everyday situations in simple and automatic ways, and are inclined to lack perspectivism and to have fewer self-correcting mechanisms (Rodrigo et al. 2006). This simplistic, self-centered, and unconscious cognitive processing favors a minimization of the difficulty of parentingrelated tasks and more impulsive, rigid, and reactive educational practices and feelings of helplessness. Hence, a portion of at-risk parents likely hold an excessively benevolent perception of their own parenting abilities. In considering these findings, enhancing parental sense of competence must be included clearly as one of the main objectives of the psychosocial interventions with atrisk families. Researchers and practitioners must also employ reliable as well as cost- and time-efficient instruments to assess the effectiveness of these interventions. Concerning parental sense of competence, there are several widely used instruments, such as the Maternal Self-Efficacy Scale (Teti & Gelfand, 1991), Parent Attribution Test (Bugental et al. 1989), Parental Locus of Control (Campis et al. 1986), Parenting Self-Agency Measure (Dumka et al. 1996), and Parental Sense of Competence (Johnston & Mash, 1989). Page 4 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review According to the extensive review of Jones & Prinz (2005), the PSOC is the most frequently used tool in assessing parenting self-evaluations. The PSOC is an adaptation of Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman’s (1978) parental sense of competence. This scale originally had 17 items, and as a result of a principal-components factor analysis, Johnston & Mash (1989) eliminated Item 17 because of its poor loading on any of the factors, and identified two subscales: efficacy and satisfaction. The first dimension reflects the degree to which the parent feels competent, capable of problem solving, and at ease with parenting, whereas the second one reflects the extent to which the parent feels frustrated, anxious, and poorly motivated in the parenting role. The version proposed by Johnston & Mash (1989) has been used in many countries, such as Canada (Ohan et al. 2000), the United States (Coleman & Karraker, 2000; Lovejoy et al. 1997), China (Ngai et al. 2007), Australia (Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2009; Rogers & Matthews, 2004), Norway (Reedtz et al. 2011), and Spain (Menéndez et al. 2011), both with community (Coleman & Karraker, 2000; Sevigny & Loutzenhiser, 2010) and clinical samples (Gelkopf & Jabotaro, 2013; Knoche, et al. 2007; Menéndez et al. 2011; Sanders & Woolley, 2005). It has also been widely used as a tool for evaluating parenting interventions (Cerezo et al. 2013; Lindsay et al. 2011; Reedtz et al. 2011). The PSOC has substantial strengths, including good content validity, internal consistency (e.g., alpha value of .80 reported by Ohan et al. 2000), some normative data (see the review of Črnčec et al. 2010), test-retest reliability (e.g., test-retest reliability between .73 and .74 according to Gibaud-Wallston, 1977), and indicators of both convergent and discriminant validity. Thus, significant and negative correlations with Child Behavior Checklist scores have been reported (Johnston & Mash,1989; Ohan et al. 2000) and the Satisfaction subscale has showed strong correlations with measures of child behavior, parent well-being, and parenting style (Rogers & Matthews, 2004). Page 5 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review However, some issues worth mentioning are as follows: some items are quite long, and readability may be an issue with some populations that have a low educational level, such as families at psychosocial risk. Concerning psychometric aspects, some items have proven to be problematic, and the factorial structure has not always been consensual: for example, some studies (Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2009; Rogers & Matthews, 2004) have found other factors in addition to the original subscales. There is also some evidence that challenges PSOC’s validity in non-community samples, such as low-income and ethnic minority populations (O’Neil et al. 2009). Also, the translation and cultural adaptation of the PSOC is a particularly relevant issue. If an instrument is to be used in a different cultural and linguistic context from the one in which it was originally developed, an adaptation following the development stages is needed in order to guarantee its validity (Van Widenfelt et al. 2005). The adaptations of the PSOC for at-risk parents have been scarce, and available evidence shows that the final tool can be substantially different from the original one. For example, the proposed adaptation of the PSOC for Spanish at-risk families (Menéndez et al. 2011) includes 10 items and two subscales: efficacy and controllability. To the best of our knowledge, the PSOC has not been translated or adapted to the Portuguese population, although it has been used in an empiric study (Coutinho, 2004). In this study, with the aim of overcoming the limitations previously mentioned, the translation, psychometric analysis, and validation of a Portuguese version of the PSOC are described, and an adapted version of the scale for at-risk families is offered. METHODS Participants Page 6 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review The sample was composed of 146 mothers from at-risk families receiving interventions for family preservation from government Child Protective Services of six areas at the South of Portugal. Participants had an average age of 37.35 years (SD = 9.41), and their educational level was quite low: 55.48% were illiterate, 22.60% completed primary school, and only 17.79% and 3.42% had initiated or finished high school or university studies, respectively. Only 39.73% were employed but with unfavorable labor conditions: 84.48% of the working mothers had stable jobs, mainly without qualification (69.49% worked as seller, baker, cleaner, assistant, etc.), and 25.56% were without employment contract. The majority (88.36%) of the families had a stable composition, with a medium size of four people (M = 4.40, SD = 1.49) and two children and/or adolescents (M = 1.98, SD = 1.07). The sample was composed of 26.71% of single-parent families. Onefourth of the sample (26%) lived with a member of the extended family. Family income was described as unstable for 30.14% of the sample, and in fact, 45.21% of the families were receiving welfare financial assistance. Instruments Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews using different instruments. The participants were asked to provide information related to sociodemographic, educational, and professional profile about both parents (age, educational level, work status, and job’s conditions) and the family (size; composition and stability; structure— single- or two-parent family; and amount, source, and stability of family incomes). The 16-item version of the PSOC scale (Johnston & Mash, 1989) was used, measuring efficacy (7 items, e.g., “I honestly belief I have all the skills necessary to be a Page 7 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review (Begle & Dumas, 2011; Bloomfield & Kendall, 2012; Erdwins et al. 2001; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Ohan et al. 2000; Sevigny & Loutzenhiser, 2010). Despite the relevance of these results, some limitations must be highlighted. The small size and narrow location of the sample should be noticed. However, the particular difficulties to conduct empirical studies with clinical populations, such as at-risk families, should be underlined. This is due to inner complexities derived from accessibility issues and psychosocial characteristics that make data collection difficult. To overcome this gap, further confirmatory analyses should be performed with a larger sample to replicate these results. Moreover, the present study only included mothers but, to our knowledge, there are no previous studies that compare mothers’ and fathers’ scores in at-risk situations. Nevertheless, future studies should include fathers in order to verify whether the results are similar. Also, test-retest reliability and comparisons with the community population could be considered in future research. CONCLUSION In this paper, a Portuguese version of the PSOC scale specifically adapted for at-risk families is offered as a useful tool for both researchers and practitioners who need to assess parental sense of competence, a relevant construct when adopting a psychoeducational approach to family context. REFERENCES Abidin, R.R. & Brunner, J.F. (1995) Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24, 31-40. doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2401_4 Abidin, R.R. (1995) Parenting stress index. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resource. Page 14 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Ardelt, M. & Eccles, J.S. (2001) Effects of mothers' parental efficacy beliefs and promotive parenting strategies on inner-city youth. 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Page 18 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Sanders, M.R. & Woolley, M.L. (2005) The relationship between maternal self-efficacy and parenting practices: Implications for parent training. Child: Care, Health & Development, 31(1), 65-73. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2005.00487.x Sevigny, P.R. & Loutzenhiser, L. (2010) Predictors of parenting self-efficacy in mothers and fathers of toddlers. Child: Care, Health and Development, 36(2), 179- 189. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2009.00980.x. Shumow, L. & Lomax, R. (2002) Parental self-efficacy: Predictor of parenting behavior adolescent outcomes. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2, 127-150. doi: 10.1207/S15327922PAR0202_03. Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2007) Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Teti, D.M. & Gelfand, D.M. (1991) Behavioral competence among mothers of infants in the first year: the mediational role of maternal self-efficacy. Child Development, 62, 918-929. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01580.x. Van Widenfelt, B.M., Treffers, P.D., De Beurs, E., Siebelink, B.M. & Koudijs, E. (2005) Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of assessment instruments used in psychological research with children and families. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8(2), 135-147. doi: 10.1007/s10567-005-4752-1. Page 19 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Table 1. Metric properties of the PSOC items Items M (SD) Item-total correlation α if item deleted 1. The problems of taking care of a child are easy to solve once you know how your actions affect your child, an understanding I have acquired 4.64 (1.20) 0.33 0.70 2. Even though being a parent could be rewarding, I am frustrated now while my child is at his/her present age 3.75 (2.04) 0.48 0.68 3. I go to bed the same way I wake up in the morning, feeling I have not accomplished a whole lot 3.49 (1.65) 0.54 0.67 4. I do not know why it is, but sometimes when I’m supposed to be in control, I feel more like the one being manipulated 3.16 (1.51) 0.30 0.70 5. My mother/father was better prepared to be a good mother/father than I am 3.90 (1.78) 0.27 0.71 6. I would make a fine model for a new mother/father to follow in order to learn what she/he would need to know in order to be a good parent 4.56 (1.66) 0.19 0.72 7. Being a parent is manageable, and any problems are easily solved 3.05 (1.63) 0.26 0.71 8. A difficult problem in being a parent is not knowing whether you’re doing a good job or a bad job 2.38 (1.68) -0.15 0.75 9. Sometimes I feel like I’m not getting anything done 3.49 (1.64) 0. 49 0. 68 10. I meet my own personal expectations for expertise in caring for my child 4.51 (1.43) 0.42 0.69 11. If anyone can find the answer to what is troubling my child, I am the one 5.28 (0.97) 0.37 0.70 12. My talents and interests are in other areas, not in being a parent 4.43 (1.75) 0.31 0.70 13. Considering how long I’ve been a mother/father, I feel thoroughly familiar with this role 5.01 (1.07) 0.37 0.70 14. If being a mother/father of a child were only more interesting, I would be motivated to do a better job as a parent 4.27 (1.85) 0.37 0.69 15. I honestly believe I have all the skills necessary to be a goof mother/father to my child 5.20 (0.97) 0.36 0.70 16. Being a parent makes me tense and anxious 3.78 (1.87) 0.25 0.71 Page 20 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Table 2. PCA three factors solution Items Factors 1 2 3 10 0. 74 6 0. 70 15 0. 68 13 0. 63 1 0.63 11 0.59 14 0.84 2 0.72 12 0.68 5 0.52 16 4 0. 76 9 0. 65 7 0. 63 3 0.63 % of variance 23.97% 13.58% 11.25% Cumulative % of variance 37.56% 48.81% Page 21 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Table 3. Descriptive statistics of Efficacy, Dissatisfaction and Controllability Efficacy Dissatisfaction Controllability Mean 29.37 16.37 13.24 Standard deviation 4.75 5.49 4.46 Median 30.00 17.00 13.00 Mode 31.00 24.00 10.00 Minimum 17.00 4.00 4.00 Maximum 36.00 24.00 23.00 Percentiles 5 21.00 6.20 7.00 10 22.40 8.00 8.00 15 23.00 10.00 9.00 20 25.00 11.00 9.00 25 26.00 12.00 10.00 30 28.00 13.20 10.00 35 29.00 15.00 11.00 40 29.00 15.00 11.00 45 30.00 16.80 12.00 50 30.00 17.00 13.00 55 31.00 18.00 14.00 60 31.00 19.00 14.00 65 31.00 19.00 15.00 70 32.00 20.00 16.00 75 33.00 21.00 16.00 80 34.00 22.00 17.00 85 35.00 23.00 18.00 90 35.60 24.00 20.00 95 36.00 24.00 22.00 Page 22 of 23Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 For Peer Review Table 4. Correlations between the PSOC adapted version and the PSI, PAI and FCS PSOC adapted version PSI PAI FCS Efficacy - 0 .19* 0 .2 5*** 0 .41**** Dissatisfaction -0.35**** 0.22* 0.20* Controllability -0.36**** 0.28**** 0.22** * p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 ***p < 0.005 **** p < 0.001 Page 23 of 23 Child & Family Social Work 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60