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Psychometric Properties of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale in Treatment-Seeking Post-9/11 Veterans

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Abstract

Although evidence suggests deployment-related stress impacts parenting, few measures of parenting competency have been validated in returning post-9/11 veterans. As part of clinical care in a multidisciplinary clinic serving veterans and military families, 178 treatment-seeking OEF/OIF/OND veterans completed measures including the 16-item Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), a widely-used measure of parental efficacy and satisfaction; the Family Assessment Device—general functioning subscale; and the depression, anxiety, and stress scale. Utilizing data from an IRB-approved de-identified data repository, we examined the psychometrics and factor structure of the PSOC. According to a proposed clinical cut-off, 10 % of our clinical sample of veterans exhibited low self-confidence in parenting. A confirmatory factor analysis of the 2-factor structure introducing correlated error terms between items 3 and 9, and between items 10 and 11, revealed to be a satisfactory fit to the data (Χ 2/df = 1.57, RMSEA = 0.056 [90 % CI 0.039–0.073]; CFI = 0.928; TLI = 0.914; SRMR = 0.055). In addition, the PSOC exhibited good convergent validity with measures of parental distress (r = −.22, p < 0.01 with anxiety symptoms, and r = −.33, p < .001 with depressive symptoms) and family functioning (r = −.53, p < .0001), very good temporal stability (r = .81, p < .0.0001), and excellent internal consistency (α = .85). The PSOC exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties in treatment-seeking veterans and may be used by clinicians and researchers to assess parenting sense of competence, including satisfaction and sense of efficacy, in this population.

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Funding

This study was funded by Home Base, a philanthropic effort of the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation & Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric Bui, Rebecca J. Zakarian, Lauren M. Laifer, Julia C. Sager, Yang Chen, Shiri Cohen, Naomi M. Simon & Bonnie Ohye

  2. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric Bui, Shiri Cohen, Naomi M. Simon & Bonnie Ohye

Authors
  1. Eric Bui
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  2. Rebecca J. Zakarian
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  3. Lauren M. Laifer
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  4. Julia C. Sager
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  5. Yang Chen
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  6. Shiri Cohen
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  7. Naomi M. Simon
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  8. Bonnie Ohye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric Bui.

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Conflict of Interest

Naomi Simon: Has received research grants: the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Department of Defense, Highland Street Foundation, NIH, and Janssen. Speaking/CME/Consulting: MGH Psychiatry Academy. Equity: spouse: G1 Therapeutics, Gatekeeper. The remaining authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Statement of the Welfare of Animals

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Patients completed measures as part of their clinical evaluation and care in an outpatient clinic. De-identified data were maintained in a database repository approved by the Massachusetts General Hospital (Partners Healthcare) Institutional Review Board. All data collection procedures have been approved by the Massachusetts General Hospital (Partners Healthcare) Institutional Review Board and informed consent was not required.

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Bui, E., Zakarian, R.J., Laifer, L.M. et al. Psychometric Properties of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale in Treatment-Seeking Post-9/11 Veterans. J Child Fam Stud 26, 464–470 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0580-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0580-9

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