Emotional Availability Scale Among Three U.S. Race/Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This study used a cross-sectional design to conduct a subgroup psychometric analysis of the Emotional Availability Scale among matched Hispanic ( n = 20), African American ( n = 20), and European American ( n = 10) English-speaking mother–child dyads in the United States. Differences by race/ethnicity were tested ( p < .05) among (a) Emotional Availability Scale dimensions with ANOVA, and (b) relationships of Emotional Availability Scale dimensions with select Dyadic Parent–Child Interaction Coding System variables with Pearson correlation and matched moderated regression. Internal consistency was .950 (Cronbach’s α; N = 50). No significant differences in the six Emotional Availability Scale dimension scores by race/ethnicity emerged. Two Dyadic Parent–Child Interaction Coding System behaviors predicted two Emotional Availability Scale dimensions each for Hispanic and African American mother–child dyads. Results suggest emotional availability similarity among race/ethnic subgroups with few predictive differences of emotional availability dimensions by specific behaviors for Hispanic and African American subgroups.