Adapting the Parental Attachment Recognition Scale for Parents Nurturing Preschool Children into Turkish (Okul Öncesi Çocuğu Olan Ebeveynlerin Bağlanma Tanıma Ölçeğinin Türkçeye Uyarlaması)

Abstract

Abstract This study aimed to conduct a validity and reliability study by adapting the "Parent Attachment Recognition Scale" developed by Tanaka (2020) to determine the early attachment experiences of mothers with preschool-aged children. The study group consisted of 565 parents, including 321 mothers and 244 fathers with preschool-aged children. The data for the study were collected through the "Personal Information Form" and the "Parent Attachment Recognition Scale" developed by Tanaka (2020). The scale comprises three subscales: parent-child communication, emotional attachment and parent impressions with a total of 27 items. Content and construct validity were examined in the validity study of the scale, while in the reliability study, analyses related to internal consistency were conducted. Expert opinions were utilized for the scale's content validity and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis techniques were employed for construct validity. The analyses indicated that the scale maintains its three-subscale structure as in the original form and the fit indices were acceptable. As a result of the analyses conducted for the scale's reliability, for the "Parent-Child Communication" subscale, the Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.966 for mothers and 0.960 for fathers. For the "Emotional Attachment" subscale, the Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.960 for mothers and 0.968 for fathers. For the "Parental Impressions" subscale, the Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.875 for mothers and 0.933 for fathers. The scale's overall Cronbach's Alpha value was calculated as (?)=0.979 for mothers and (?)=0.972 for fathers. In conclusion, the scale was determined to be a valid and reliable measurement tool.