Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale (TAPS)

Abstract

The Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale (TAPS) is a specialized psychological scale designed to measure the attitudes and behaviors of parents who have adopted a child of a different race or ethnicity. Developed by Massatti, Vonk, and Gregorie in 2004, the instrument assesses the degree of cultural competence and racial socialization efforts employed by transracial adoptive parents. It is crucial for understanding how parents navigate complex issues related to race, identity formation, and cultural heritage, which are unique challenges inherent in transracial adoption. TAPS consists of 36 items categorized into six distinct factors, reflecting both proactive multicultural planning strategies and the presence of potentially detrimental negative attitudes.

Keywords

Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale, TAPS, Transracial Adoption, Cultural Competence, Racial Socialization, Adoptive Families, Parenting Attitudes, Ethnic Identity, Multicultural Planning.

Authors

Massatti, R. R., Vonk, M. E., Gregoire, T. K.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale (TAPS) is to provide a reliable and valid measure of parental behaviors and attitudes concerning cultural and racial issues within transracial adoptive families. The scale helps researchers and clinicians evaluate the extent to which adoptive parents are engaging in activities and holding beliefs that support the child’s ethnic identity development and prepare them to cope with racial prejudice and discrimination.

By quantifying these complex parental dynamics, TAPS serves as a critical tool for assessing the need for and efficacy of interventions aimed at increasing parental cultural competence. The instrument distinguishes between proactive engagement (such as seeking out cultural contact or teaching survival skills) and passive or detrimental approaches (such as exhibiting negative or color-blind attitudes).

Construct

TAPS measures the construct of Cultural Competence in Transracial Parenting. This construct is defined as the combination of awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary for effective and supportive parenting of a child from a different racial or ethnic background. Specifically, the scale assesses how parents actively incorporate the child’s birth culture into family life and how they prepare the child for navigating a potentially racially biased society.

The scale operationalizes this construct through dimensions that reflect proactive socialization efforts, including seeking out cultural resources, building relationships with individuals from the child’s heritage, and directly addressing issues of racism and bias. Conversely, it also captures the degree to which parents hold Negative Attitudes, which might inhibit the child’s positive racial and ethnic identity formation.

Validity

The original study establishing the TAPS (Massatti, Vonk, & Gregoire, 2004) reported evidence supporting the scale’s validity, particularly its construct validity, through factor analysis. The derived factor structure aligns theoretically with established models of cultural competence and racial socialization in adoption literature, suggesting that the scale measures the intended dimensions of transracial parenting.

Further research has utilized TAPS to correlate parental scores with outcomes such as the child’s ethnic identity and self-esteem, providing additional support for the measure’s predictive and criterion validity. High scores on proactive factors are expected to correlate positively with healthy outcomes for the child, reinforcing the measure’s utility in clinical and research settings.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the TAPS subscales was examined using Cronbach’s alpha in the initial development study (Massatti & Vonk, 2004). The reliability coefficients demonstrated acceptable to strong internal consistency across the six factors:

• Multicultural Planning with No Contact (MPNC): 0.88
• Negative Attitudes (NA): 0.82
• Multicultural Planning with Contact (MPC): 0.77
• Racial Awareness (RA): 0.68
• Multicultural Planning with Integration (MPI): 0.67
• Survival Skills (SS): 0.65

These coefficients indicate that the items within each factor generally measure the same underlying dimension of parental attitude or behavior, with the exception of Survival Skills and Multicultural Planning with Integration, which show slightly lower, though still acceptable, reliability values.

Factor Analysis

The TAPS structure was derived through factor analysis, resulting in 36 items loading onto six distinct factors. These factors represent the multidimensional nature of culturally competent transracial parenting:

• Multicultural Planning with No Contact (MPNC): Focuses on providing cultural resources and opportunities that do not necessarily involve direct contact with the child’s birth community (e.g., books, history, arts, language). (Items 6, 7, 14, 17, 19, 23, 28, 36)
• Multicultural Planning with Contact (MPC): Addresses proactive steps taken by parents to ensure the child has direct relationships and interaction with individuals and families from their birth culture. (Items 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 29, 32)
• Multicultural Planning with Integration (MPI): Measures efforts to integrate the family into racially diverse environments, such as choosing diverse neighborhoods or schools. (Items 25, 31)
• Racial Awareness (RA): Captures the parent’s self-awareness regarding their own feelings, motivations, and attitudes about race and the adoption process. (Items 15, 16, 22, 34)
• Survival Skills (SS): Reflects the parent’s commitment to educating the child about prejudice, bias, and discrimination, and teaching specific coping strategies. (Items 5, 12, 27)
• Negative Attitudes (NA): Reflects color-blind or minimizing attitudes regarding racial differences, prejudice, and the additional responsibilities required in transracial parenting. (Items 3, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26, 30, 33, 35)

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report Psychological Scale

Format: 36 items measured on a 6-point Likert Scale.

Language Available: English (Original)

Population Group: Adoptive Parents

Age Group: Adults (Parents)

Population Details: Parents involved in transracial adoption.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their level of agreement with statements regarding their parenting practices and attitudes using the following scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Moderately Disagree, 3 = Slightly Disagree, 4 = Slightly Agree, 5 = Moderately Agree, 6 = Strongly Agree.

Keywords

Parenting Skills, Ethnic Identity, Racial Identity, Interracial Families, Adoption Research, Social Work Practice, Cultural Competence, Likert Scale.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (M. E. Vonk)

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 2004. Detailed permissions and fee structures are not provided in the source material. The instrument is documented in widely referenced sourcebooks for clinical practice measures. The full instrument details and associated research article can be found via the following link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228058632.

Reference’s

• Massatti, R. R., Vonk, M. E., & Gregoire, T. K. (2004). Reliability and Validity of the Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 14(1), 43-50.
• Massatti, Vonk, & Gregorie. (2004). Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale (TAPS). In Fischer, Joel., Corcoran, Kevin J. (2007). Measures for Clinical Practice and research: A sourcebook. (4th ed.). NY. Oxford University Pr. Vol. 1, Page (s): 415-418.
• Mohanty, J., Keokse, G., Sales, E. (2006). Family Cultural Socialization, Ethnic Identity, and Self-Esteem. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 15(3-4), 153-172.
• Vonk, M. E. (2001). Cultural competence for transracial adoptive parents. Social Work, 46, 246-255.
• Vonk, M. E., Massatti, R. R., (2008). Factors Related to Transracial Adoptive Parents’ Levels of Cultural Competence. Adoption Quarterly, 11(3), 204-226.

Items of the Transracial Adoption Parenting Scale (TAPS)

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

1. I want to help my child establish relationships with children from his or her birth culture.
2. It is a high priority for me to encourage my child to seek support and advice from adults of his or her race about coping with prejudice.
3. Paying no attention to racial differences between my child and myself makes me a better parent. b .467
4. It is a high priority to seek out service providers in my community‚ such as doctors or dentists‚ who are of my child’s race or ethnicity.
5. I need to teach my child a variety of coping strategies from which to choose when faced with prejudice or bias. .345
6. Providing my child with opportunities to learn the history of the people of his or her race is a high priority. .684
7. I feel I must provide my child with opportunities to learn the language or dialect of this or her birth culture.
8. It is very important to wait for my child to indicate that race is an issue for him or her before initiating a discussion on the topic.
9. Helping my child feel a sense of belonging within a community of people from his or her birth culture makes me a better parent.
10. I want to help my child establish relationships with adults from his or her birth culture.
11. I think that young children do not notice racial differences unless adults point them out.
12. I think it is very important to educate my child about the realities of prejudice‚ bias‚ and discrimination. .612
13. I know that prejudice and discrimination exist‚ but there are more important things about which to teach my child.
14. It is very important to include traditions from my child’s birth culture‚ such as ethnic holidays‚ in my family celebrations.
15. Awareness of my feelings and attitudes about my child’s birth culture and race is crucial.
16. Examination of my motivation for adopting a child of a different race or culture is very important.
17. It is important for me to provide opportunities for my child to visit his or her community or country of birth.
18. I think that coping with prejudice or racism is the same as coping with other problems.
19. Helping my child feel pride in his or her racial heritage is a high priority.
20. I believe that I can prevent problems related to racial differences by providing love to my child.
21. I do not believe that racial and cultural differences cr‎eate significant additional parental responsibilities.
22. It is very important for me to examine my feelings about interracial dating and marriage.
23. Books‚ toys‚ and dolls that reflect the race of my child are very important for my family.
24. It is very important that I rely primarily on my own prior experiences when helping my child cope with race related teasing or prejudice.
25. It is crucial that I place my child in multicultural schools.
26. I believe that it matters little what others think about my child’s race as long as I love him or her.
27. I believe that it is very important that my child recognize racism.
28. I want to provide my child with opportunities to appreciate the fine arts‚ such as music and dance‚ of his or her birth culture.
29. Seeking support and advice from adults or parents of my child’s race about dealing with prejudice is a high priority.
30. I believe that my child and I will make too much of racism if we develop a sensitivity to it.
31. I want my family to live in an integrated neighborhood with neighbors who reflect the race of my child.
32. It is very important for me to develop friendships with families and individuals of my child’s heritage.
33. I think it is best to simply ignore insensitive remarks from strangers about my child.
34. It is important for me to remember that others may view my family as different.
35. I believe that discussions of racial differences with my child may do more harm then good.
36. Providing my child with opportunities to learn values and traditions of his or her birth culture is a high priority.