Development and validation of a questionnaire on Chinese parents' beliefs in parental roles and responsibilities
Author(s)
Author(s)
To, S. M.
Kwong, W. M.
Date Issued
2020
Publisher
Springer
Journal
Applied Research in Quality of Life
Volume
15
Start page
693
End page
712
Abstract
Parental beliefs concerning parental roles and responsibilities are a crucial domain in the study of parental cognitions, an emic measure of which is not available in Chinese societies. In the context of a mixed-methods study on generational shifts in parental beliefs of five cohorts of Chinese parents in Hong Kong, we developed and validated a culturally- and diachronically-sensitive quantitative measure of parental beliefs on parental roles and responsibilities. A non-random proportionate sample (N = 5,707) of 5 generational cohorts of parents (the earliest cohort being parents of young children in the 1970’s and before) responded to a questionnaire of parental beliefs. An exploratory factor analysis of the data collected from the first sub-sample (n = 2,925) yielded a 23-item fivefold factor structure. A confirmatory factor analysis of the data collected from the second sub-sample (n = 2,596) demonstrated an acceptable model fit. The discovered factors pointed to parental beliefs clustered around five sets of parental roles and responsibilities: (1) parental nurturance of children; (2) parenthood as a normative life stage; (3) parental guidance of the young; (4) fulfilling children’s needs; and (5) readiness to relax and restrict parental control. Cross-cohort analysis confirms the presence of significant generational differences in all 5 sets of parental beliefs. This emic quantitative measure provides a culturally sensitive scale for studying parental beliefs about parental roles and responsibilities in a Chinese cultural context.
SFU Affiliated Publication
No
Availability at SFU Library
No database links found.