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A 133-item parenting questionnaire was completed by 1251 parents of preschool and school-age children. Items in this measure were reduced using principal axes factor analyses followed by varimax rotation. Three global parenting dimensions emerged consistent with Baumrind's authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive typologies. Internal consistency reliability was assessed with Cronbach alpha and additional items were deleted. A 62-item instrument was retained, and the global parenting dimensions were subsequently analyzed to assess their internal structures using principal axes factor analyses followed by oblique rotation. For each of the three global dimensions a number of specific factors were identified.

Parents (109 mothers, 109 fathers) of 109 middle-class preschool-age children were interviewed separately in individual taperecorded home interviews to assess whether either parent was prone to use assertion of power or inductive reasoning as disciplinary strategies. Fathers reported using more power-assertive disciplining strategies with their preschool-age children than mothers.