Psychometric properties of parenting and family adjustment scale (PAFAS) in a Turkish sample with parents of 2-12 years old children from both community and clinical sample

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of Parenting and Family Adjustment Scale (PAFAS; Sanders et. al., 2010) which consists of the Parenting scale measuring parenting practices and quality of parent–child relationship and of the Family Adjustment scale measuring parental emotional adjustment and partner and family support in parenting. Method: The study was conducted with parents of 2-12 years old children from both community and clinical sample. Clinical sample composed of 201 parents who were referred to Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine or parents which were in evaluation process for 1 month, while community sample composed of 202 parents which were recruited from Balçova. Parents who participated to the study completed the Parenting and Family Adjustment Scale (PAFAS), Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), Marital Life Scale (MLS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Sociodemographic Data Form. Also, PAFAS were conducted to the 58 parents of community sample within 2 weeks, for the measure of test-retest reliability. Psychometric properties of the scale were compared with the PSDQ, MLS, and GHQ. Results: Internal consistency of the total PAFAS were found ''highly reliable'', while Parenting subscale were found ''quite reliable'' (Cronbach α:0.700), and Family Adjustment subscale were found ''highly reliable'' (Cronbach α:0.830). Subscales and factor structures' mean scores of PAFAS were not differ significantly in test-restest administration, and dependent sample t-test; and it was found that PAFAS subscale of Parenting (r:0.747, p<0.001) and Family Adjustment (r:0.706, p<0.001) are highly intercorrelated. According to the factor structures of subscales, all of the subscales of Parenting scale and Family Adjustment scale present high correlation except parental consistency factor which presents moderate correlation. Measures showed that correlation coefficients which found between 0.497 and 0.747 were statistically significant. Evaluation of validity results determined that the ability of the PAFAS to differentiate clinical sample from community sample is high; the scale has a construct validity with five factors in explanatory and comfirmatory factor analysis; and it has a statistically significant criterion validity with PSDQ, MLS, and GHQ. Conclusion: The findings suggested that the Turkish version of the PAFAS has a high level of reliability and validity for the parents of 2-12 years old children. Keywords: Parenting and Family Adjustment Scale (PAFAS), reliability and validity, parenting, family.