Development and Validation of a Parenting Styles Scale based on Glasser's Choice Theory

The present study set out to develop and validate a parenting styles questionnaire based on Glasser’s choice theory. The design of this quantitative research was correlational. The statistical population of the study was comprised of all parents of 7- to 18-year-old students in District 6 of Tehran in 2018. The drawn sample (N= 360) was selected by random multi-stage cluster sampling method. At first, the constructs of parenting styles based on Glasser’ s choice theory (1998) were extracted via extensive literature review. Then, 87 measurable items were defined for these constructs. In the next step, the face validity as well as content validity of these items were established and the inappropriate items were deleted. As a result, a total number of 46 items remained. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed for the purpose of obtaining construct validity which resulted in a questionnaire comprising 40 items. This questionnaire is comprised of two types of constructive and destructive subscales. The first 21 items are related to the constructive style and the next 19 items are connected with the destructive style. The internal consistency of questionnaire was established by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (0.89, 0.87, and 0.81 for the constructive and destructive styles and the total scale, respectively). Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that constructive and authoritative parenting styles both comprise elements which are expected to be more beneficial for the development and well-being of children as opposed to destructive and authoritarian parenting styles.