A Norwegian validity study of parenting stress measured by the Nijmegen Child-Rearing Situation Questionnaire section one

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 183–193 A Norwegian validity study of parenting stress measured by the Nijmegen Child‐Rearing Situation Questionnaire section one The aim of this study was to explore the construct validity and reliability of the Nijmegen Child‐Rearing Situation Questionnaire (NCSQ) section one entitled ‘Subjective parenting stress’. This is composed of subscales measuring relational and situational stress. The possibility of using subscales with both dimensions in the same study gives the opportunity to explore parenting stress from both a relational and situational perspective. The NCSQ was administered to parents of two groups of boys, 6–12 years old. The clinical group consisted of 64 parents of children reporting behaviour problems who were recruited from seven child and adolescent clinical psychiatric units. A group of 128 parents of children reporting no specific behavioural problems were recruited from 12 schools. Six boys in each class grades 1–7 were randomly selected from the class rosters. Both samples were recruited from Oslo and surrounding eastern counties. The suggested factor structure of the construct parenting stress was tested with data from both groups. First, a separate confirmatory analysis of the items in each factor was tested. Then testing was carried out with one‐ and two‐factor analysis using the sum scores from each subscale, to further explore whether parenting stress was a one‐dimensional general or a two‐dimensional construct. Results showed an unacceptable model fit of the pleasure subscale in the clinical group. The instrument is not relevant for normal populations due to the skewed responses found in the acceptance and pleasure subscales, the low internal reliability found in the acceptance and relation subscales, and the unacceptable factor loading and model fit found for the managing subscale in the comparison group. Further studies are needed to test the construct validity and reliability of the scale. Although the instrument is intended for clinical populations, hopefully with further revisions and research, it might be used as a clinical tool to define dimensions of parenting stress in everyday life.