Assessment, Statistics, and Research

Parents sometimes feel inadequate to parent. Although many enjoy parenting and delight in their children, few can deny that parenting is often a challenge. Some feel unprepared. Some enjoy their children but feel frustrated. Some feel they are less capable than other parents. The Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC) consists of 17 or 16 items depending on the version. The items are rated on a scale of 1 to 6 with anchors of 1 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree. Authors: Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman (1978) Internal consistency estimates of reliability range from the mid .70s to .80s in previous studies. Research suggests that the items can be grouped into two subscales: Satisfaction with Parenting and Efficacy. Early wording of some scale items used only the word “mother,” but these items have been revised by other researchers to refer to either mother or father (e.g., see Ohan, Leung, & Johnston, 2000). Scoring: Several items are re