The parenting sense of competence scale: Evidence of a stable factor structure and validity

In this study, 110 mothers and 110 fathers of 5- to 12-year-old boys and gi rls completed the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) scale and measures o f child behaviour, parenting style, and marital satisfaction. We replicated the factor structure of the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale produced b y Johnston and Mash (1989), and provided evidence that the Satisfaction and Efficacy scales from this measure assess distinct aspects of parenting sel f-esteem. Interestingly, parents of girls reported higher Efficacy scores t han parents of boys. To address the validity of the PSOC scale, we calculat ed partial correlations between Efficacy and Satisfaction PSOC scores and o ther measures of family functioning, controlling for the shared variance be tween the two scales. Significant small-to-moderate size correlations were found between parents' reports of both internalizing and externalizing chil d problems and Satisfaction scores, but correlations with Efficacy scores w ere generally small and nonsignificant, particularly for mothers. We also f ound that mothers and fathers who reported a more easy-going, low-conflict parenting style were more satisfied in parenting; for mothers, a similar re lationship was found for parenting efficacy. In addition, Satisfaction scor es shared a small but significant amount of variance with mother-father agr eements in parenting style, as well as marital satisfaction. Implications o f the findings for the use of the Parenting Sense of Competence scale are d iscussed.