Assessment of the Validity of Parenting Constructs Using the Multitrait-Multimethod Model

The validity and convergence between adolescents', mothers' and fathers' reports of five parenting constructs (family conflict, family communication, permissive parenting, authoritative parenting, and authoritarian parenting) were examined. Questionnaire data were collected from 302 families with children in the first and second year of secondary education and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test three multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) models containing five parenting constructs as trait factors and adolescents', mothers', and fathers' reports as method factors. The CFA approach to MTMM data revealed a multidimensional structure in which both measurement method and parenting traits accounted for covariation among data. The CFA results also demonstrated that the family members' perspectives converged in the measure of family conflict and family communication constructs. Results also indicated method effects for the other three constructs reflecting parenting styles. Implications of these findings are discussed.