DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF PARENTAL BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Cultural specificity of parenting behavior creates the need for appropriate, culturally relevant measures of this complex construct. Based on this need, the questionnaire appropriate for measuring parental behavior in the Croatian cultural context was developed. The first version of the Parental Behavior Questionnaire, PBQ32, showed acceptable psychometric characteristics, but the questionnaire has been further improved and its new version, PBQ29, was constructed. The aim of this paper was to present the psychometric properties of the PBQ29. The study was conducted on a sample of 720 children (52% girls) and 1010 parents (54% mothers). Factor analyses generally confirmed the hypothesized PBQ29 structure, showing that the questionnaire measures seven aspects of parenting behavior (Warmth, Autonomy, Knowledge, Inductive Reasoning, Permissiveness, Punishment and Intrusiveness), which group in three global dimensions (Parental Support, Restrictive Control and Permissiveness). All subscales and dimensions showed a satisfactory level of internal consistency and sensitivity to individual differences. PBQ29 validity was also indicated by significant correlations between parental self-perceived parenting behavior and children's perception of their mothers' and fathers' parenting practices. In conclusion, PBQ29 is a valid and reliable tool that can be used with different samples and in various areas of research where parenting behaviors are relevant.