Assessing Preschool Child Routines in the Family: A Preliminary Study of the Portuguese Version of the Child Routines Questionnaire - Preschool

The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Child Routines Questionnaire: Preschool (CRQ:P), a parent-report measure developed to assess daily routines specific to preschool-age children. Participants included 208 parents of preschool children (M[subscript age] = 3.97 years old; SD = 0.95; 53.4% boys). Parents also completed measures of family routines (mealtimes) and children's social skills. A confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the original CRQ:P five-factor structure did not fit to the data and the subsequent exploratory factor analysis suggested a three-factor solution (Daily Living, Education/Positive Attention and Discipline), accounting for 33.36% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha reliability was very good for the Total scale ([alpha] = 0.84), and acceptable-to-good for the three subscales ([alpha] range = 0.68 to 0.79). Preliminary evidence of validity was shown by weak positive correlations between children's and family mealtime routines. Also, routines predicted children's social skills. Differences were found in discipline routines between younger and older children. The results provide initial evidence that the Portuguese version of the CRQ:P is a promising assessment tool that can be used in clinical practice and future empirical research focused on preschool-age children's routines.