The stability and validity of early adolescents' reports of parenting constructs

The stability and validity of early adolescents' reports of 6 parenting con structs were examined: parent-child conflict, positive family relations, pa rental monitoring, parents' rule making, consistent enforcement of rules, a nd use of positive reinforcement. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; H. W. Marsh & D. Hocevar, 1988) on questionnaire data from 3 quarter ly assessments of 174 5th-7th grade youth was used to test a multitrait-mul timethod (MTMM) model containing 6 parenting constructs as trait factors an d 3 assessment occasions as method factors. Youths' reports of these parent ing constructs were stable over time, and the CFA approach to MTMM data dem onstrated convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs. Each pare nting construct was significantly correlated with youths' reports of devian t peer associations, antisocial behavior, and substance use, providing evid ence of criterion validity.