Development and Validation of the Knowledge of Parenting Strategies Scale: Measuring Effective Parenting Strategies

The current study aimed to develop and evaluate a measure of parenting knowledge, the Knowledge of Parenting Strategies Scale (KOPSS); specifically, to establish the scales internal reliability, ensure a clinically appropriate length, provide a community sample for future comparison, demonstrate adequate test–retest reliability and convergent validity, and to compare the scale to dysfunctional discipline styles. A total of n = 865 parents were involved in the development and evaluation of the scale. In Study 1, data was collected from n = 229 parents and Rasch analyses revealed seven items did not fit the measurement model. Study 2 involved a further sample of community families (n = 346) and revealed the scale could be further shortened to 16 items. Study 3 revealed the scale has good test–retest reliability over a one-week period (r = .88, p