Parenting Style Inventory II (PSI-II)

Abstract

The Parenting Style Inventory II (PSI-II) is a widely utilized self-report instrument designed to measure adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ behavior across critical dimensions of parenting theory. Developed by Darling and Toyokawa (1997), the PSI-II operationalizes key constructs such as parental warmth, control, and support. It is particularly valuable for research examining the link between perceived parenting practices and adolescent outcomes, providing quantitative scores for three primary factors: Responsiveness, Autonomy-granting, and Demandingness.

Keywords

Parenting Style Inventory II, PSI-II, Parenting Style, Adolescence, Responsiveness, Demandingness, Autonomy-granting, Psychological Assessment.

Authors

Darling, N., Toyokawa, T.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PSI-II is to quantify the adolescent’s perspective regarding the style of parenting they experience. It moves beyond simple categorical classifications of parenting (e.g., authoritative or authoritarian) to assess the specific, continuous dimensions of parental behavior that influence adolescent development.

The instrument is designed to capture subtle variations in parental interaction, including the extent to which parents are supportive and warm, enforce rules and expectations, and allow for independent decision-making. By measuring these dimensions, the PSI-II facilitates nuanced research into developmental psychology and family dynamics.

Construct

The PSI-II is structured around three distinct psychological constructs, which are closely aligned with the established dimensions of parenting described by Baumrind:

• Responsiveness: This dimension reflects parental warmth, support, communication, and involvement. High scores indicate that the parent is perceived as caring, available, and responsive to the child’s needs and troubles.
• Autonomy-granting: This construct measures the extent to which parents encourage independent thought, respect the child’s privacy, and allow the child to have their own point of view and make decisions. It represents a facet of parental control that is permissive or liberal.
• Demandingness: This dimension relates to parental behavioral control, strictness, monitoring, and the expectation for maturity and compliance. High scores indicate parents who set clear rules, expect adherence to standards, and utilize punishment when necessary.

By separating traditional parental control into Autonomy-granting and Demandingness, the PSI-II offers a finer-grained analysis of how different forms of control relate to adolescent outcomes.

Validity

While detailed validity studies are typically found in the unpublished manuscript (Darling & Toyokawa, 1997), the theoretical foundation of the PSI-II rests on established models of parenting style, notably the work of Darling & Steinberg (1993), which provided an integrative model for understanding parenting style as context.

The items are designed to cover a broad range of observable parental behaviors corresponding directly to the theoretical definitions of warmth/support and behavioral control, suggesting strong content validity. Its continued use in developmental research further supports its construct validity, as it consistently differentiates between parenting styles and correlates predictably with various indices of adolescent adjustment.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the PSI-II subscales, measured using Cronbach’s alpha, demonstrates acceptable reliability for research purposes, particularly for a self-report measure of this nature. The reported alpha coefficients for the three main factors are:

• Responsiveness: $alpha$ = .74
• Autonomy-granting: $alpha$ = .75
• Demandingness: $alpha$ = .72

These values suggest that the items within each subscale consistently measure their intended construct, providing reliable assessment scores across the dimensions of parental behavior.

Factor Analysis

The PSI-II is empirically structured around three primary factors identified through statistical analysis: Responsiveness, Autonomy-granting, and Demandingness.

Specific items load onto these factors, with some items being reverse-scored to mitigate response bias. For the initial 15-item version, the factor loading structure is defined as follows:

• Responsiveness: Items 2*, 5*, 11, 13, 15 (Asterisks indicate reversed items).
• Autonomy-granting: Items 3*, 4, 6, 9*, 10 (Asterisks indicate reversed items).
• Demandingness: Items 1, 7*, 8, 12, 14* (Asterisks indicate reversed items).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire

Format: 5-point Likert scale, typically ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” The response options are: strongly disagree, disagree, I’m in between, agree, strongly agree.

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Children and Adolescents (reporting on their parents)

Age Group: Typically utilized with adolescents (mid-to-late childhood through late adolescence) capable of self-reporting complex social perceptions.

Population Details: Used primarily in academic and developmental psychology research settings to study family dynamics and developmental outcomes.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the extent to which they agree or disagree with statements describing their parent’s behavior and expectations. Scoring involves summing or averaging item responses within each subscale, accounting for reversed items. The full instrument (including scoring instructions and items) can be found in the original documentation. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/ndarling/lab/psiii.pdf

Keywords

Parental control, parental warmth, behavioral control, adolescent development, psychological measurement, scale construction, family relations.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not specified in source material, but primary affiliation for the 1997 manuscript was the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, United States of America.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The instrument was constructed and validated in 1997 by Darling and Toyokawa. As an unpublished manuscript, it is often available for non-commercial academic research use, though researchers should always seek explicit permission from the authors or their representatives before use. No commercial fee information is provided in the source material.

Reference’s

• Darling, N. & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: an integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113(3), 487-496.
• Darling, N. & Toyokawa, T. (1997). Construction and validation of parenting style inventory II (PSI – II). Unpublished manuscript, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, United States of America.

Items of the Parenting Style Inventory II (PSI-II)

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

1. My parent really expects me to follow family rules.
2. My parent doesn’t really like me to tell her my troubles.
3. My parent tells me that her ideas are correct and that I shouldn’t question them.
4. My parent respects my privacy.
5. My parent hardly ever praises me for doing well.
6. My parent gives me a lot of freedom.
7. My parent really lets me get away with things.
8. If I don’ t behave myself‚ my parent will punish me.
9. My parent makes most of the decisions about what I can do.
10. My parent believes I have a right to my own point of view.
11. I can count on my parent to help me out if I have a problem.
12. My parent points out ways I could do better.
13. My parent spends time just talking to me.
14. When I do something wrong‚ my parent does not punish me.
15. My parent and I do things that are fun together.

How much do you agree or disagree with this sentence?
A. My mother really expects me to follow family rules.
B. My mother doesn’t really like me to tell her my troubles.
C. My mother expects me to dress and act differently in places like church or a restaurant than I do when I’m with my friends.
D. My mother tells me that her ideas are correct and that I shouldn’t question them.
E. Hard work is very important to my mother.
F. My mother respects my privacy.
G. My mother hardly ever praises me for doing well.
H. My mother gives me a lot of freedom.
I. My mother really lets me get away with things.
J. If I don’t behave myself‚ my mother will punish me.
K. My mother expects me to do what she says without ha‎ving to tell me why.
L. My mother makes most of the decisions about what I can do.
M. It is important to my mother that I do my best.
N. My mother encourages me to talk to her honestly.
O. My mother doesn’t ask me to change my behavior to meet the needs of other people in the family.
P. My mother believes I have a right to my own point of view.
Q. If I don’t act according to my mother’s standards‚ she will do things to make sure I do in the future.
R. I can count on my mother to help me out if I have a problem.
S. I would describe my mother as a strict parent.
T. My mother points out ways I could do better.
U. My mother pushes me to do my best in whatever I do.
V. It’s clear to me when my mother thinks I have done well.
W. My mother pushes me to think for myself.
X. My mother is strict about how I behave when I’m in stores‚ the library‚ or someplace where there are mostly adults.
Y. My mother makes it clear when I have done something she doesn’t like.
Z. I can tell when my mother thinks I could have done better.
AA. My mother spends time just talking to me.
BB. When I do something wrong‚ my mother does not punish me.
CC. My mother and I do things that are fun together.
DD. My mother sets high standards for me to meet.
EE. My mother gives me chores to do around the house.
FF. When my family does things together‚ my mother expects me to come.