Assessing Mothers' and Fathers' Authoritarian Attitudes: The Psychometric Properties of a Brief Survey

This study used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the structure and factor loadings of an authoritarian parenting scale. The study used data from 315 married couples who had toddlers participating in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project located in 14 communities across the United States. The sample was diverse and consisted largely of white, African American, and Hispanic low-income parents. The results indicate that the authoritarian parenting scale was a consistent and accurate measure of authoritarian parenting attitudes with both mothers and fathers. Social work practitioners may find this instrument a valuable assessment tool in cases in which there is a focus on parenting skills and attitudes.