The Parenting Scale (D.S. Arnold, S.G. O'Leary, L.S. Wolff, & M.M. Acker, 1
993) is a self-report measure of parenting practices that has demonstrated
sound psychometric properties when used with the parents of young children.
However, less is known about the use of this measure with parents of older
children. This study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties
and factor structure of the Parenting Scale in a normative sample of parent
s with children 2-12 years old. Findings reveal that the psychometric prope
r-ties remain strong among the parents of elementary school children, with
minimal differences in scores as a function of children's age. However, the
data suggest that the factor structure may differ from that proposed by th
e authors. Although statistically significant correlations with ADHD sympto
ms were revealed, the magnitude of these correlations was relatively small.
Suggestions for future research and clinical use of this scale are discuss
ed.