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. 2024 Sep 24;10(19):e38212.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38212. eCollection 2024 Oct 15.

Psychometric properties of Parenting Sense of Competence Scale using item-response theory

Mitra Rahimzadeh  1 , Sara Esmaelzade Saeieh  2 , Parisa Rezanejad-Asl  3
Affiliations

Psychometric properties of Parenting Sense of Competence Scale using item-response theory

Mitra Rahimzadeh et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Parental competence is one of the essential components of raising ethical and healthy children. The mother's satisfaction with her maternal role significantly influences her cognitive responses and parenting behaviors. Having appropriate instruments to measure maternal satisfaction and identify and solve potential problems after childbirth can substantially contribute to maintaining and improving mother and infant health. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) Scale in mothers referring to the healthcare centers affiliated with Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional psychometric study collected data from 254 mothers with 1.5-month-old infants referred to the healthcare centers in Qazvin Province. Data were analyzed using the item response theory (IRT) in SPSS 26 and Stata 17 software. The mean age (±standard deviation) of participants was 30.05 ± 5.7, and the overall Cronbach's alpha for the scale was 0.931. We used the graded response model (GRM) appropriate for Likert-type rating scales to fit the IRT. The discrimination parameter estimates showed that item 5 had a discrimination level <0.65, leading to its exclusion from the final analysis. In addition, the total information index confirmed that the scale was suitable in the trait range of -2.1 to 1.8. Compared with other common models for ordered responses based on general model fit indices, the GRM showed a better fit. The study results recommend applying the IRT models to improve and enhance the quality of questionnaires in various measurement fields.

Keywords: Item response theory; Parental competence; Psychometrics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scree plot.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The left panel shows item characteristic curve for item 5 (worst items) and the right panel shows item characteristic curve for item 15 (best items).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The information curve of the entire scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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