Parental Adjustment Scale: Validation of a brief, five-item measure of parental adjustment for use with families of typically developing children and children with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities in Australia.
A five-question parent-adjustment scale is now valid for quick Australian practice with any child group.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kelly et al. (2022) built a five-question survey that asks parents how they are coping. They tested it with Australian families who have kids with or without developmental disabilities. Parents filled out the form online so the team could check if the questions hang together and make sense.
What they found
The five items clumped into one clear factor. Scores lined up well with longer mood and stress measures. The short scale worked the same for parents of neurotypical kids and parents of kids with delays or intellectual disability.
How this fits with other research
Boxum et al. (2018) did something similar four years earlier. Their PAFAS scale has twenty-seven items and covers both parenting style and family stress. Eliza’s new tool is leaner; it keeps only the adjustment piece and cuts the time to under a minute.
Schaaf et al. (2015) and Blanchette et al. (2016) also trimmed long forms. They showed that brief teacher and parent scales can still hit psychometric marks. Eliza adds to that line by proving a one-factor, five-item parent scale is good enough for mixed diagnostic groups.
Honey et al. (2005) used a thirty-one-item stress form. The new five-item tool does not replace deep stress measures, but it gives you a quick temperature check when time is tight.
Why it matters
You can now open a session, hand the parent five questions, and have data before the kettle boils. The score tells you if caregiver well-being needs attention or if you can dive straight into child goals. Use it during intake, reassessment, or when staff shortages make long surveys impossible.
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Join Free →Print the five items, give them to the next parent while you set up materials, and use the total as a session-opening talking point.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Explores the validity of the five-item parental adjustment scale, a subscale of the previously validated Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales. AIM: The aim was to assess the factor structure and convergent validity of a measure of parental adjustment within parents of typically developing children and parents of childiren with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Cross-sectional survey data was analysed from Australian parents of children aged 2-12 years who were typically developing children (N = 683) and had developmental and/or intellectual disabilities (N = 756). Confirmatory factor analyses and multi-group structural equation modelling examined if the factor structure performed similarly across the two populations. Convergent validity was assessed. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesised one-factor structure for the parental adjustment scale in both populations. Partial measurement invariance confirmed that the scale was structurally consistent within both parent groups. The convergent validity was supported by significant correlations with the DASS-21 in the disability population and the K10 in the typically developing population. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This brief, easily administered, five-item scale demonstrates strong potential in assessing parental adjustment, within both parents of typically developing children and parents of children with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104304