Development and validation of a questionnaire on Chinese parents' beliefs in parental roles and responsibilities

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.