All You Need Is Love: Validating a New Test of 10 Parenting Competencies That Predict Good Outcomes with Young Children

Abstract

Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to validate a new online test of parenting competencies and to determine the relative value of 10 competencies that have been shown in empirical studies to be helpful in parenting. 

Methods: We examined data obtained from a diverse convenience sample of 15,959 parents in 133 countries (56.1% from the U.S.) who completed the new online parenting questionnaire. We employed a concurrent study design to assess the validity of the new instrument. In a double-blind procedure to assess content validity, 11 parenting professionals rated both the competencies and the questionnaire items. To assess criterion validity, we used regression analyses to examine the relationship between questionnaire scores and participants’ answers to questions about the quality of their relationship with their children, how highly they rated their own parenting ability, and the happiness, health, and success of their children.

Results: Total scores were positively correlated with answers to our five criterion questions (p < .001), suggesting relatively strong criterion validity for the new questionnaire. Internal consistency reliability was also high. Regression analyses suggested that the competency we labeled Love and Affection was the best predictor of good outcomes with children and that the competency we called Safety was the least valuable of the 10. Effects were found for gender (with females slightly outscoring males), race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and education level, but not for age or number of children. Total scores were higher for parents who had had parenting training, and more training was associated with higher scores. 

Conclusion: The study supports the view that parenting can be broken down into measurable and trainable competencies and provides guidance regarding how such training should be conducted.

Keywords: EPCI, Epstein Parenting Competencies Inventory, parenting competencies, parenting skills, parenting outcomes, test validation, online tests