Developing and validating a multidimensional Chinese Parental Psychological Control Scale

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Diya Dou¹  Xiaoqin Zhu¹  Yangu Pan² 

[1] Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China;Research Institute of Social Development, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China;

关键词: psychological control;    Chinese contexts;    scale validation;    multidimensions;    invariance test;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1116625

 received in 2022-12-05, accepted in 2023-02-28,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThis study validated a Chinese Parental Psychological Control Scale (CPPCS) among secondary school students in mainland China.MethodsThe item pool consisting of 65 items was constructed based on consultation with existing measures and focus group interviews of 19 Chinese adolescents. After content validation conducted by 14 experts, a total of 40 items were retained and subject to further factorial validation based on a sample of 963 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 13.39 ± 0.72; 52.23% females).ResultsUsing the two random-split half samples, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses retained 30 items that loaded on three factors, including “relational induction” (twelve items), “harsh psychological control” (twelve items), and “social comparison shame” (six items). The three-factor structure was invariant across gender (male versus female) and grades (grade 7 versus grade 8) among the whole sample. Cronbach’s αs of the three dimensions in maternal and paternal subscales ranged between 0.89 and 0.92, suggesting adequate internal consistency. The three dimensions were significantly correlated with each other, supporting the scale’s convergent validity. The concurrent validity of the CPPCS was supported by the positive correlations between subscales and parental rejection, and the negative correlations between subscales and parental warmth. In addition, while the “harsh psychological control” and “social comparison shame” negatively predicted adolescents’ well-being, “relational induction” positively predicted adolescents’ well-being.DiscussionThe findings suggest that the CPPCS is a promising instrument for measuring multidimensional psychological control among Chinese parents and for investigating and comparing individual dimensions’ effect on adolescents’ development.

【 授权许可】

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