A Brief Scale for Assessing Parental Child-Rearing Practice: Psychometric Properties and Psychosocial Correlates

Abstract

The development and initial validation of the 20-item Colorado Parental ChildRearing Scale (CPCRS) is described, based on three studies of college students, including one study that obtained data from students and their parents. The scale comprises four 5-item subscales that are largely uncorrelated and that reliably assess parental affection, punitiveness, control, and lax discipline. The first three of these subscales have been repeatedly found in previous studies of parental child-rearing, while the fourth subscale has been found somewhat less commonly. Many previously identified relationships linking parental child-rearing practice and respondent personality and demographic characteristics were confirmed in the present study. Data obtained from parents and siblings yielded descriptions of parental child-rearing practice that were generally significantly correlated with those obtained from index students. Suggestions for additional investigation of parental child-rearing practice are proposed.