Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale (PCRSS)

Abstract

The Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale (PCRSS) is a comprehensive psychological scale designed to measure individuals’ internalized expectations and experiences regarding the parent-child relationship. Developed by Dixson, Bermes, and Fair (2014), the PCRSS operationalizes the concept of relational schema within the family context. It assesses how adult children and adolescents perceive the ideal and actual roles, behaviors, and emotional interactions between themselves and their parents, covering dimensions such as shared activities, communication, conflict, and mutual respect. The scale consists of 44 items distributed across five empirically derived factors.

Keywords

Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale, PCRSS, relational schema, parent-child communication, family relationships, psychological measurement, expectations, adolescent psychology, young adults.

Authors

M. Dixson, E. Bermes, Suze Fair.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PCRSS is to provide a standardized, multi-dimensional instrument for investigating the cognitive frameworks, or schema, that individuals hold concerning the parent-child relationship. It allows researchers and clinicians to quantify perceptions of both prescriptive (what should happen) and descriptive (what does happen) aspects of this crucial relationship, offering insight into relational satisfaction and potential sources of conflict.

By capturing expectations across various interaction domains—from shared daily activities to emotional support and conflict resolution—the scale enables a nuanced analysis of how deeply ingrained expectations affect relational outcomes as children transition into adolescence or young adulthood.

Construct

The PCRSS is rooted in the concept of relational schema, which are stable, internalized knowledge structures that guide an individual’s interpretation of, and behavior within, specific interpersonal relationships. In the context of the family, these schemas dictate expected roles, behavioral reciprocities, and emotional norms between parents and children.

The scale measures these schemas across several key factors, focusing on behavioral interdependence, affective quality, and communicative patterns. These factors collectively represent the individual’s internal blueprint for an ideal or typical parent-child relationship, distinguishing between positive, supportive interactions and negative, conflict-oriented behaviors.

Validity

The development of the scale through rigorous factor analysis supports its construct validity, demonstrating that the items group logically into theoretically relevant dimensions of relationship schemas. The scale aims for high construct validity by ensuring that the five resulting subscales accurately reflect distinct and measurable aspects of the parent-child relational construct.

The original validation study provides empirical evidence supporting the scale’s ability to differentiate between various components of relational expectations and experiences, confirming its utility in measuring the intended psychological constructs across diverse samples.

Reliability

The reliability of the PCRSS is demonstrated through strong internal consistency measures reported in the initial validation studies. The scale utilizes Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients to assess the homogeneity of items within each subscale, confirming that items within a factor consistently measure the same underlying dimension.

The reliability coefficients reported for the five primary factors are:

• Communication attention: 0.91
• Do together: 0.86
• Helping/Understanding behaviors and feelings: 0.85
• Love/Respect: 0.83
• Conflict: 0.76

Factor Analysis

The structure of the 44-item PCRSS was established through an exploratory factor analysis, which resulted in the identification of five distinct factors explaining the variance in parent-child relationship schemas. This analysis confirmed the multi-dimensional nature of the construct, capturing specific behavioral, emotional, and communicative components.

The five factors derived from the analysis, along with the item groupings identified in the source content, are:

1. Do together (items: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, and 14)
2. Communication attention (items: 4, 6, 10, 15, 16, 19, 22, 25, 40, 41, 42, and 43)
3. Helping/Understanding behaviors and feelings (items: 18, 20, 23, 24, 28, 31, 33, and 34)
4. Love/Respect (items: 35, 36, 37, and 38)
5. Conflict (items: 3, 9, and 12)

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale.

Format: 44 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale, where 1=Never, 2=Not very often, 3=Sometimes, 4=Often, and 5=Always.

Language Available: English (Primary publication language).

Population Group: Individuals reporting on the parent-child relationship, focusing on the child’s perspective.

Age Group: Adolescents and Young Adults.

Population Details: Used primarily in communication and family studies research involving young adults assessing their relationship expectations and experiences with parents.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to rate the frequency with which certain behaviors or emotional states occur or should occur within the parent-child dyad.

Keywords

Relational expectations, family communication, socialization, young adult relationships, psychological schema, factor analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not available.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not available.

Correspondence Address: Not available.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was formally published in 2014 following extensive development and validation. For permissions and usage fees, researchers should consult the corresponding author, M. Dixson, or the publisher of the primary validation article, Social Sciences (MDPI).

Test Year: 2014 (Primary Validation).

Reference’s

The primary validation study and related theoretical work include:

• Dixson, M., Bermes, E., and Fair, Suze. (2014). An Instrument to Investigate Expectations about and Experiences of the Parent-Child Relationship: The Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale. Social Sciences; 3, 84–114. The full instrument details are available online at: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/3/1/84
• Dixson, M.D. (1995). “Models and Perspectives of Parent-Child Communication.” In Parents, Children, and Communication: Frontiers of Theory and Research. Edited by Tom J. Socha and Glen H. Stamp. Mahweh, NJ: Erlbaum, 43–62.
• Dixson, M. D., and Stein, A. (1997). “The Role of Communication in Meeting Young Adult’s Relational Expectations about the Parent-Child Relationship: Satisfaction in Launching Families.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Communication Association in Chicago, IL, USA, November, 1997.
• Fair, S., and Dixson, M. D. (2001). “What do You Want? Teen’s Unmet Expectations about the Parent-Child Relationship.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Communication Association in Atlanta, GA, USA, November, 2001.

Items of the Parent-Child Relationship Schema Scale (PCRSS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Parents and sons/daughters should play together.
2. Parents and sons/daughters should read together (read to each other or read separately in the same room).
3. Parents and sons/daughters should watch TV together (watch the same shows in the same room).
4. Parents and sons/daughters should talk together.
5. Parents and sons/daughters should eat together.
6. Parents and sons/daughters should help each other.
7. Parents and sons/daughters should go places together.
8. When parents and sons/daughters go on vacation they should go together.
9. Parents should be sure sons/daughters have food to eat.
10. Parents should teach sons/daughters.
11. Parents should help sons/daughters get dressed.
12. Parents should discipline sons/daughters for unacceptable behavior.
13. Parents should take sons/daughters places.
14. Parents should buy sons/daughters things.
15. Parents should pay attention to sons/daughters.
16. Parents should take care of sons/daughters.
17. Sons/daughters should be nice to parents.
18. Sons/daughters should do housework (cleaning‚ cooking‚ yard work) for parents.
19. Sons/daughters should pick up after themselves for their parents.
20. Sons/daughters should buy presents for their parents on birthdays and/or holidays.
21. Sons/daughters should help parents.
22. Sons/daughters should listen to parents and do as they say.
23. Sons/daughters should give parents a break.
24. Sons/daughters should work hard for parents.
25. Sons/daughters should talk to parents.
26. Sons/daughters and parents should love each other.
27. Sons/daughters and parents should be truthful with each other.
28. Sons/daughters and parents should be friends with each other.
29. Sons/daughters and parents should trust each other.
30. Sons/daughters and parents should respect each other.
31. Sons/daughters and parents should be happy with each other.
32. Sons/daughters and parents should be grateful to each other.
33. Sons/daughters and parents should understand each other.
34. Sons/daughters and parents should feel sorry (compassion) for each other.
35. Sons/daughters and parents should feel angry with each other.
36. Sons/daughters and parents should swear at each other.
37. Sons/daughters and parents should hit each other.
38. Sons/daughters and parents should argue with each other.
39. Sons/daughters and parents should be nice to each other.
40. Sons/daughters and parents should talk to each other
41. Sons/daughters and parents should listen to each other.
42. Sons/daughters and parents should be honest with each other.
43. Sons/daughters and parents should be good to each other.
44. Sons/daughters and parents should follow rules (curfew etc.).