Australian Measure of Parenting Self-Efficacy
This study will develop and evaluate an Australian scale to measure parenting self-efficacy that is relevant for the Australian context.
We are currently developing a new scale to measure parenting self-efficacy that is relevant for the Australian context. The scale will be designed to measure four important constructs that seem to have a major impact on parenting practices: parenting self-efficacy, personal agency, self-sufficiency and self-management.
The aim is to design a brief, user friendly scale that has statistical validity and reliability in the Australian context. Questions will address how parents manage challenges, how confident they feel about parenting, and how well they feel they can influence their children’s development. The scale also needs to be sensitive to changes over time to be useful in evaluating the impact of parenting interventions.
Using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI), we have collected responses to the preliminary questions from 300 parents from across Australia. The parent responses will help us construct the measure for further testing. The next step is to construct a scale that has a sound factor structure and good reliability and can be used in the next phase of the study to test its validity in a range of intervention programs.
The next phase involves testing the scale with a range of families in vulnerable circumstances and families engaged in some form of formal and informal parenting support.
The project has been funded by the Victorian Government Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
