Psychometric Properties of a Parental Childrearing Behavior Scale for French-Speaking Parents, Children, and Adolescents

Abstract

Abstract. The present study validates a culturally appropriate questionnaire, the Evaluation des Pratiques Educatives Parentales (EPEP), to assess parents' child-rearing behavior in French-speaking samples. Three versions of the instrument were validated on 493 parents' self-reports, and on 159 children's and 834 adolescents' ratings of their parents' childrearing behavior. The EPEP questionnaire is based on recent conceptually and psychometrically sound instruments for English and Dutch populations ( Patterson, Reid, & Dishion, 1992 ; Van Leeuwen & Vermulst, 2004 ). It replicates the nine-factor solution of the Dutch scale and provides similar psychometric properties: moderate to high internal consistency, interrater reliability between children and their parents, test-retest reliability, no relationship with social desirability, discriminative properties based on differences between mother and father, child's age and gender, and on correlations with children's personality traits. Results are discussed in the context of the relevance of the instrument from research and clinical perspectives.