Development and validation of the adolescence perceptions of parental involvement scale in China

Given the increasing academic pressures associated with intensified social competition, the role of parental involvement in education has emerged as a pivotal research area, especially within the context of Chinese culture. However, there remains a need to further delineate the characteristic dimensions of parental involvement and to develop appropriate measurement tools to quanitfy such involvements. By the perspective from adolescents’ reports, this study proposed a psychometric and theoretical framework for understanding Chinese adolescents' perceptions to thier parental involvement. We adopted a mixed-methods approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative research methods. In Study 1, we conducted structural interviews with adolescents aged 12 to 18, applying grounded theory to analyze their perceptions of parental involvement. This process led to the identification of four preliminary characteristic dimensions: emotional involvement, academic involvement, life involvement, and social involvement. Based on these identified conceptional dimensions, Study 2 involved the creation of a measurement questionnaire designed to assess these perceptions. Through exploratory factor analysis, we developed a four-dimensional 21-items questionnaire showing high conceptional validity. Study 3 focused on validating these dimensions through confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity tests conducted on the national samples. The results demonstrated strong reliability and construct validity for this questionnaire, confirming the effectiveness of the scale as a robust tool for measuring adolescents' perceptions of parental involvement. In conclusion, this research provides a new understanding of the characteristic dimensions of adolescents' perceptions of parental involvement and introduces an effective measurement tool.