The Index of Parental Activities, Context and Experiences (I-PACE): Psychometric Properties of a New Brief Early Parenting Questionnaire.

SATISFACTION; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESEARCH methodology evaluation; RESEARCH evaluation; PARENTING; PARENT attitudes; SOCIAL skills in children; HOME environment; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; BEHAVIOR disorders in children; PSYCHOMETRICS; CHILD development; RESEARCH methodology; FACTOR analysis; CHILD care; EMOTIONS in children; MENTAL depression; INTER-observer reliability; NEIGHBORHOOD characteristics

Time pressures make brevity important for parent self-report measures, yet evidence highlights the multi-faceted nature of parenting and contextual influences. To straddle these competing goals, we developed a brief (23-item) yet broad Index of Parental Activities, Context, and Experiences (I-PACE) aimed at parents of toddlers and pre-schoolers. In two studies we assessed the validity and reliability of the I-PACE. Study 1 involved 870 caregivers (95% female, 75% with degrees, 90% White British) and examined I-PACE ratings alongside; (a) ratings of children's social-emotional skills and behavior problems; and (b) child age and parental depressive symptoms, to assess its sensitivity to contrasts in child development and parental experience. Study 2 included 191 families with 14-month-olds, for whom 188 mothers and 178 fathers completed the I-PACE and an index of life satisfaction. Supporting the replicability of findings from the I-PACE, both studies showed the same differentiated 5-factor structure (i.e., parental experiences, parenting activities, home environment quality, neighborhood environment quality and childcare environment quality). Supporting the I-PACE's validity, Study 1 showed that all 5 factors were independently related to both children's social-emotional skills and behavior problems, with predicted associations with child age and parental depressive symptoms. Supporting the I-PACE's inter-rater reliability, within-couple associations were significant for parenting activities, home environment, neighborhood quality and childcare quality. Together, these findings indicate that the I-PACE offers a broad yet brief index of early parenting with good psychometric properties and we discuss promising avenues for future research. Highlights: The new Index of Parental Activities Context and Experiences (I-PACE) showed promising psychometric properties. The I-PACE measure captures the multi-faceted nature of parenting. I-PACE subscales were associated with both child social and emotional skills and behavioural problems. Mother and father reports on the I-PACE are equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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