Psychometric Properties of The Parental Stress Scale for Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Researchers tested a questionnaire called the Parental Stress Scale with over 3,000 families who have children with disabilities (mostly autism). They found that a shortened 15-question version works well to measure both the rewarding and stressful parts of parenting. This tool could help identify parents who need extra support.

This large-scale psychometric study examined the reliability and validity of the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) in 3,220 families with children diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities (91% with autism spectrum disorder). The original 18-item PSS showed poor model fit, requiring removal of three items. The resulting 15-item version demonstrated good internal consistency, discriminant validity, and model fit, maintaining the original two-factor structure representing rewarding and burdensome aspects of parenting. This provides initial evidence supporting use of the modified 15-item PSS as a screening tool for parental stress in families of children with I/DD and ASD.

The validated 15-item PSS provides clinicians and researchers with a reliable tool for screening parental stress in families with I/DD children. Early identification of high parental stress can guide targeted support interventions and resource allocation for families most in need.

This is a psychometric validation study rather than an intervention study. The abstract does not report response rates, demographic characteristics beyond child age, or test-retest reliability. Generalizability may be limited given the high proportion (91%) of ASD diagnoses in the sample.

Parental stress can be debilitating for parents and their families. This is particularly true for parents who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD). Effective screening and measurement of parental stress leads to accurate and effective intervention. The purpose of this study was to understand the psychometric properties of the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) for families who have a child with I/DD (ages ranging from 1 to 18 years old, with a mean of 5.28).

Caregivers of 3220 families who have a child with I/DD (91% diagnosed with ASD) completed the scale. The psychometric properties including internal reliability and factor structure were completed as well as discriminant validity. Results of confirmatory factor analysis with the 18-item scale revealed a poor model fit with three items not meeting minimum factor loading threshold. Given this, the three items were removed, and confirmatory factor analysis was reconducted with 15 items of the PSS.

Results revealed good internal consistency and discriminant validity, as well as a good model fit with all 15 items loading above the minimum threshold. The identified two-factor structure is consistent with the dichotomous (rewarding/burdensome) construct of parental stress that Berry and Jones (J Soc Pers Relationsh 12(3):463-472, 1995) originally designed the scale to index. Thus, the 15-item PSS has initial psychometric evidence in a large sample of families with a child with I/DD.