Examining the psychometric properties of the simplified Parenting Stress Index-Short Form with Chinese parents of children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

We examined the factorial validity, measurement invariance, reliability, and concurrent validity across gender groups of the simplified Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (S-PSI-SF) with a group of 486 Chinese parents of children with cerebral palsy. Participants completed the S-PSI-SF and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support. Findings based on a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the original three-factor model was duplicated in this population, and displayed measurement invariance for both fathers and mothers. The internal reliability of the S-PSI-SF was confirmed, and composite reliability values were larger than .70. Furthermore, all subscales of the S-PSI-SF were significantly correlated with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support. These results show that the S-PSI-SF is a trustworthy and effective tool for evaluating parenting stress and can be used confidently with both fathers and mothers of children with cerebral palsy.