Attitudes Towards Multi-Child Families Scale

Abstract

The Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale (AMCFS), developed by Babincak and Kacmarova (2023), is a 20-item psychometric instrument designed to assess adults’ complex attitudes toward Multi-Child Families (defined as having three or more children). This scale was created specifically to address a deficiency in existing research that often overlooked attitudes directed at this specific family structure. The initial measure consisted of 35 items, formulated based on factors such as religiosity, economic status, standard of living, and emotional support, drawing inspiration from previous family research (e.g., Abbasi-Shavazi et al., 2003). After a preliminary pilot study confirming item quality, the final 20-item instrument was established through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on data collected from adults in Slovakia, yielding a three-factor structure with acceptable Internal Consistency.

Keywords

Good Life in Multi-Child Families, Deficient Standard of Living in Multi-Child Families, Negative Characteristics of Multi-Child Family Members, Family Size, Family Type Attitudes, Family Planning, Family Planning Attitudes, Family Structure, Only Children, Siblings, Family and Parenting Measures.

Authors

Babincak, Peter, Kacmarova, Monika.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale is to measure and empirically evaluate adults’ perceptions and attitudes concerning families with multiple children (three or more). The measure provides a standardized, reliable tool for researchers to quantify societal views on larger families, a demographic topic that has historically been under-researched in comparison to attitudes toward smaller family sizes.

By providing a specific measure of attitudes toward this particular family type, the AMCFS contributes to a deeper understanding of the socio-cultural and economic factors that underpin fertility decisions and public opinion regarding family structure.

Construct

The AMCFS measures the latent construct of adults’ multidimensional attitudes toward Multi-Child Families. This construct is structured around three core factors identified through factor analysis, reflecting different dimensions of public perception:

• Good Life in Multi-Child Families: Captures positive beliefs regarding the benefits, happiness, and social skills associated with growing up in a large family.
• Deficient Standard of Living in Multi-Child Families: Addresses negative economic and resource-based concerns, focusing on financial strain and compromised quality of life.
• Negative Characteristics of Multi-Child Family Members: Measures stereotypes and judgments concerning the parenting quality, intelligence, and emotional well-being of individuals from larger families.

Validity

No formal, specific validity coefficients (such as construct or criterion validity) are detailed in the provided source material for the Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale. However, the initial development phase included a pilot study (Opocenska & Babincak, 2020) which served to verify the comprehensibility and discriminatory power of the preliminary items, thereby supporting the scale’s content validity.

Furthermore, the empirical demonstration of a clear and theoretically coherent three-factor structure through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) provides evidence supporting the internal structural validity of the instrument.

Reliability

The reliability of the Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale was established by evaluating Internal Consistency. This analysis utilized Cronbach’s alpha for each of the three derived factors.

The reported alpha coefficients for the factors ranged from .730 to .820. These values are generally considered acceptable to adequate in psychological measurement, confirming that the items within each factor are internally consistent and reliably measure their respective sub-constructs.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed during the development of the AMCFS to uncover the underlying latent structure. The determination of the optimal number of factors was rigorously guided by established statistical criteria, including the Hull method (Lorenzo-Seva et al., 2011) and Parallel analysis (Timmerman & Lorenzo-Seva, 2011).

This comprehensive analysis confirmed a clear and interpretable 3-factor solution for the final 20-item scale. This three-factor model successfully accounted for 41% of the total variance observed in the collected data, lending strong support to the multidimensional nature of attitudes toward large families.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: The Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale consists of 20 items. Responses are gathered using a 5-point Likert-type response scale, where options range from 1 (totally agree) to 5 (totally disagree).

Language Available: The scale is available in Slovak.

Population Group: The scale is validated for use with human populations, including both male and female adults.

Age Group: Appropriate for adults across the full spectrum of age ranges, including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), Aged (65 years & older), and Very Old (85 years & older).

Population Details: The measure was standardized and administered to adult respondents residing in Slovakia.

Test Methodology: The scale was developed using Test Reliability analysis (specifically Internal Consistency) and Factor Analysis, including Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Keywords

Good Life in Multi-Child Families, Deficient Standard of Living in Multi-Child Families, Negative Characteristics of Multi-Child Family Members, Family Size, Family Type Attitudes.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available (Peter Babincak)

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Monika Kacmarova)

Correspondence Address: University of Presov, 17. novembra 1, Presov, Slovakia, 080 01 (Monika Kacmarova)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: To obtain permissions for the use of the Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale, users are advised to contact the publisher of the original article.

Fee: There is no fee associated with the use of this instrument.

Test Year: 2023

References

• Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., McDonald, P., & Hosseini-Chavoshi, M. (2003). The Fertility Transition in Iran: Revolution and Reproduction. Springer.

• Babincak, P., & Kacmarova, M. (2023). Attitudes towards multi-child families in the Slovak Republic. Journal of Family Studies.

• Helus, Z. (2004). Psychologie pro střední školy. Fortuna.

• Lorenzo-Seva, U., Timmerman, M. E., & Kiers, H. A. L. (2011). The Hull method for selecting the number of common factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46(2), 340-360.

• Markova, I., & Luksik, I. (in Bianchi, S. M. (Ed.). (2013). Families as they really are. Columbia University Press).

• Michalek, J. (2004). Sociologie rodiny. Grada.

• Opocenska, A., & Babincak, P. (2020). Attitudes towards multi-child families in the Slovak Republic: A pilot study. Unpublished manuscript.

• Willits, F. K., & Swales, D. (2003). Economic well-being and family size: An analysis of family formation among Pennsylvania families. Journal of Family Issues, 24(5), 606-628.

Items of the Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale

The Attitudes towards Multi-Child Families Scale consists of 20 final items, structured across three main factors derived from the Exploratory Factor Analysis. The specific items are located in the source reference: 2022-44860-001, Table 2, Page 1368.

The items are categorized as follows:

Good Life in Multi-Child Families

1. Multi-child families (with 3 and more children) are happier.

2. Children from multi-child families learn to communicate better.

3. Children in multi-child families (3 and more children) experience a lot of fun.

4. Children in multi-child families help each other more.

5. The more children in family the merrier.

6. A child from a multiple-child family never feels lonely.

Deficient Standard of Living in Multi-Child Families

1. Large number of children create financial pressure on a family

2. Large number of children hinders mothers from engaging in their interests and other activities

3. Multi-child families (3 and more children) must cut down the expenses.

4. Multi-child families are in worse economic situation than one-child or two-child families.

5. Two children in a family are enough these days.

6. It is better to provide for fewer children than for a large number of children who would have to wear used clothes.

Negative Characteristics of Multi-Child Family Members

1. Parents cannot raise a large number of children properly

2. A child from a multiple-child family is emotionally neglected.

3. Children from multi-child families are less educated than children from small families.

4. Intelligent people should have no more than two children.

5. Large number of children in a family puts parents under mental stress.

6. Individuality is lost in multi-child families.

7. I find parents of 3 and more children irresponsible.

8. Children from multi-child families are less intelligent.

Excluded Items

The following items were part of the initial 35-item pool but were excluded during the factor analysis process:

1. It is a luxury to be able to afford more than 2 children these days.

2. In one-child or two-child families, a child’s individuality and uniqueness are encouraged more.

3. It is great to be the only child.

4. Parents in large families tend to raise children in a more careless way.

5. Parents spend enough time with children in smaller families.

6. Multi-child families cannot afford spending holidays at sea.

7. These days only national minorities have more than two children.

8. The privacy of individuals diminishes in multi-child families.

9. Multi-child families do not reach the standard of living of one-child or two-child families.

10. I admire people with a large number of children.

11. If I could choose, I would like to have more than two siblings.

12. Parents in large families do not have enough time to spend with each child.

13. Children in small families have closer/better relationship with parents than children in multi-child families.

14. Only those parents with suitable personality type can have a larger number of children.

15. It is totally natural to have a large number of children, it is a human natural predisposition.

Note: Response options range from totally agree (1) to totally disagree (5). The scale was administered in the Slovak language; translations of the items are illustrative.