Construction and initial validation of the Parenting Regulatory Focus Scale

Most parenting research is focused on parenting behaviors, but it is also important to understand the goal motivations behind parental approaches to raising children. We present parenting regulatory focus as a theoretical framework to understand parenting goal motivations and describe the development and validation of a 16-item Parenting Regulatory Focus Scale. We used two independent samples (N1 = 879; N2 = 497) to validate the Parenting Regulatory Focus Scale as a two-factor structure composed of promotion and prevention-based parenting regulatory focus. The scale scores demonstrated good internal reliabilities (αs = .86 - .91), as well as two-week (αpromotion = .65, αprevention = .77) and six-month test-rest reliabilities (αpromotion = .61, αprevention = .66). Across two studies, we tested the construct validity of the Parenting Regulatory Focus Scale through correlations with general regulatory focus, parents’ personality traits, child temperament, parenting styles and behaviors, and child adjustment. Path analysis supported the relationship between parenting regulatory focus and child adjustment as mediated by parenting styles and behaviors. The Parenting Regulatory Focus Scale is a promising tool that can contribute to parenting research and tailoring of parenting interventions.