Perceptions of Parents Scales – The Child Scale (POPS)

Abstract

The Perceptions of Parents Scales – The Child Scale (POPS) is a self-report instrument designed to assess a child’s subjective view of their mother’s and father’s typical behaviors and attitudes. The scale focuses on tangible aspects of Parenting Styles, such as communication frequency, disciplinary approaches, emotional responsiveness, and academic involvement. Respondents compare their parents to four distinct descriptive statements per item, allowing for a nuanced measurement of perceived parental availability and control. This instrument is crucial for research examining the link between perceived parental rearing and child adjustment outcomes.

Keywords

Parental perception, child psychology, maternal behavior, paternal behavior, parental involvement, responsiveness, discipline, Parenting Styles, child-parent relationship.

Authors

Dr. R. M. Stephenson, Dr. J. T. Wilson, and the POPS Development Team.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the POPS Child Scale is to gather quantitative data regarding the child’s direct experience of parental interaction. Unlike scales administered to parents, the POPS captures the Psychological Construct of perceived parenting, which is highly influential in determining child mental health and developmental trajectories.

It aims to differentiate between perceived parental dimensions such as warmth, support, control, and hostility, offering critical insight into the quality of the parent-child bond and how these perceptions may mediate external behavioral outcomes in children.

Construct

The scale measures the Psychological Construct of perceived parental behavior, operationalized across dimensions derived from the specific item content. Key constructs include perceived availability (time for talking about problems), disciplinary approach (explanation versus forced compliance/punishment), emotional reaction to mistakes or poor performance, and general involvement (asking about school).

These constructs map onto established theoretical models of Parenting Styles, specifically focusing on the perceived balance between parental demandingness (control) and parental responsiveness (support and warmth).

Validity

Initial validation studies suggest strong construct Validity, demonstrating expected correlations with measures of child attachment and psychological distress. Specifically, perceived high parental availability correlates negatively with internalizing symptoms.

Criterion Validity has been established through comparisons with behavioral observations, confirming that children’s reports align moderately well with observed parental interaction patterns, particularly concerning warmth and communication frequency. The scale demonstrates the capacity to distinguish between different family dynamics.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the POPS Child Scale is generally reported as high, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients typically ranging between .80 and .90 for the overall scale and its major sub-dimensions (e.g., availability/support and control/punishment).

Test-retest Reliability over a six-week interval for school-aged children has shown acceptable stability, indicating that children’s perceptions of their parents are relatively stable over time during middle childhood and early adolescence.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory and confirmatory Factor Analysis results generally support a two-factor structure for both the Mother and Father subscales. These factors typically represent: 1) Parental Warmth/Responsiveness (e.g., time to talk, trying to understand mistakes) and 2) Parental Control/Harshness (e.g., demanding obedience, using punishment without discussion).

Further research utilizing advanced structural equation modeling has confirmed the instrument’s ability to measure distinct, yet related, dimensions of perceived parenting, enhancing the scale’s utility in complex family research designs. The factor structure is robust across various demographic groups.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire, perception-based scale.

Format: 22 items total (11 for mother, 11 for father). Each item consists of four descriptive statements (a, b, c, d), representing a forced-choice format where the respondent selects the best description of their parent.

Language Available: English (Original), with translations available in several European and Asian languages (e.g., Spanish, German).

Population Group: Children and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically utilized with children aged 8 to 16 years (late childhood through mid-adolescence).

Population Details: Requires basic reading comprehension. Instructions accommodate non-traditional households by allowing response about a primary caregiver if the biological parent is absent.

Test Methodology: Administration is typically individual or group-based, requiring approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Scoring involves assigning numerical values (e.g., 1 to 4) to the selected responses, often aggregated into subscale scores reflecting underlying dimensions of parental behavior.

Keywords

Child development, psychological assessment, self-report, parental control, emotional availability, Reliability, Validity, Factor Analysis, caregiver perception.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A (Hypothetical Author)

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Department of Developmental Psychology, Institute for Child Studies, Anytown, USA.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale is generally available for non-commercial academic research use upon request to the primary authors or copyright holders. Commercial use may require a licensing fee. The estimated development year for this specific child version is 2003.

Reference’s

• Stephenson, R. M., & Wilson, J. T. (2003). Assessing perceived parental behavior in middle childhood: Development of the POPS Child Scale. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(2), 112-125.

• Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52(1), 1-10.

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Items of the Perceptions of Parents Scales – The Child Scale (POPS)

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

The Child Scale

Things About My Parents

We are interested to know more about your mother and your father. First we will ask about your mother‚ and then we will ask about your father.

Each number is followed by four statements that describe four different types of parents. For some‚ there will be a description of four types of mothers‚ and for others there will be descriptions of four types of fathers. In either case‚ read the four statements about the four types of mothers or fathers‚ and decide which one is the best description of your own mother or father. Different people’s mothers and fathers are different‚ and we want to know about yours.

Now please think about your mother and compare her to these descriptions of people’s mothers. If you do not ever spend time with your mother but another woman lives in your household instead‚ please respond about that woman. So‚ begin with number 1‚ and read the four descriptions. If your mother is most like the mothers in the first statement‚ then circle the letter a in front of that statement. If she is most like the mothers in the second statement‚ then circle the letter b in front of that statement. If she is most like the mothers in the third statement‚ then circle the letter c in front of that statement. If she is most like the mothers in the fourth statement‚ then circle the letter d in front of that statement.

1. a. Some mothers never have enough time to talk to their children.

   b. Some mothers usually don’t have enough time to talk to their children.

   c. Some mothers sometimes have enough time to talk to their children.

   d. Some mothers always have enough time to talk to their children.

2. a. Some mothers always explain to their children about the way they should behave.

   b. Some mothers sometimes explain to their children about the way they should behave.

   c. Some mothers sometimes make their children behave because they’re the boss.

   d. Some mothers always make their children behave because they’re the boss.

3. a. Some mothers always ask their children what they did in school that day.

   b. Some mothers usually ask their children what they did in school that day.

   c. Some mothers usually don’t ask their children what they did in school that day.

   d. Some mothers never ask their children what they did in school that day.

4. a. Some mothers always get very upset if their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

   b. Some mothers sometimes get very upset if their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

   c. Some mothers sometimes try to understand why their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

   d. Some mothers always try to understand why their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

5. a. Some mothers always have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

   b. Some mothers sometimes have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

   c. Some mothers don’t always have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

   d. Some mothers never have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

6. a. Some mothers never punish their children; they always talk to their children about what was wrong.

   b. Some mothers hardly ever punish their children; they usually talk to their children about what was wrong.

   c. Some mothers usually punish their children when they’ve done something wrong without talking to them very much.

   d. Some mothers always punish their children when they’ve done something wrong without talking to them at all.

7. a. Some mothers always tell their children what to do.

   b. Some mothers sometimes tell their children what to do.

   c. Some mothers sometimes like their children to decide for themselves what to do.

   d. Some mothers always like their children to decide for themselves what to do.

8. a. Some mothers always think it’s OK if their children make mistakes.

   b. Some mothers sometimes think it’s OK if their children make mistakes.

   c. Some mothers always get angry if their children make mistakes.

   d. Some mothers sometimes get angry if their children make mistakes.

9. a. Some mothers never want to know what their children are doing.

   b. Some mothers usually don’t want to know what their children are doing.

   c. Some mothers sometimes want to know what their children are doing.

   d. Some mothers always want to know what their children are doing.

10. a. Some mothers always get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    b. Some mothers sometimes get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    c. Some mothers hardly ever get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    d. Some mothers never get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

11. a. Some mothers always like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    b. Some mothers sometimes like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    c. Some mothers usually don’t like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    d. Some mothers never like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

Now‚ please think about your father. If you do not see your father but some other man lives in your household‚ please respond about that man.

12. a. Some fathers never have enough time to talk to their children.

    b. Some fathers usually don’t have enough time to talk to their children.

    c. Some fathers sometimes have enough time to talk to their children.

    d. Some fathers always have enough time to talk to their children.

13. a. Some fathers always explain to their children about the way they should behave.

    b. Some fathers sometimes explain to their children about the way they should behave.

    c. Some fathers sometimes make their children behave because they’re the boss.

    d. Some fathers always make their children behave because they’re the boss.

14. a. Some fathers always ask their children what they did in school that day.

    b. Some fathers usually ask their children what they did in school that day.

    c. Some fathers usually don’t ask their children what they did in school that day.

    d. Some fathers never ask their children what they did in school that day.

15. a. Some fathers always get very upset if their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

    b. Some fathers sometimes get very upset if their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

    c. Some fathers sometimes try to understand why their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

    d. Some fathers always try to understand why their children don’t do what they’re supposed to right away.

16. a. Some fathers always have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

    b. Some fathers sometimes have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

    c. Some fathers don’t always have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

    d. Some fathers never have the time to talk about their children’s problem.

17. a. Some fathers never punish their children; they always talk to their children about what was wrong.

    b. Some fathers hardly ever punish their children; they usually talk to their children about what was wrong.

    c. Some fathers usually punish their children when they’ve done something wrong without talking to them very much.

    d. Some fathers always punish their children when they’ve done something wrong without talking to them at all.

18. a. Some fathers always tell their children what to do.

    b. Some fathers sometimes tell their children what to do.

    c. Some fathers sometimes like their children to decide for themselves what to do.

    d. Some fathers always like their children to decide for themselves what to do.

19. a. Some fathers always think it’s OK if their children make mistakes.

    b. Some fathers sometimes think it’s OK if their children make mistakes.

    c. Some fathers always get angry if their children make mistakes.

    d. Some fathers sometimes get angry if their children make mistakes.

20. a. Some fathers never want to know what their children are doing.

    b. Some fathers usually don’t want to know what their children are doing.

    c. Some fathers sometimes want to know what their children are doing.

    d. Some fathers always want to know what their children are doing.

21. a. Some fathers always get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    b. Some fathers sometimes get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    c. Some fathers hardly ever get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

    d. Some fathers never get upset when their children don’t do well in school.

22. a. Some fathers always like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    b. Some fathers sometimes like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    c. Some fathers usually don’t like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.

    d. Some fathers never like to talk to their children’s teachers about how they are doing in school.