Examining the Validity and Reliability of the Child-parent Relationship Scale among Malaysian Preschoolers
Abstract
The quality of child–parent relationships plays a central role in shaping children’s socio-emotional and literacy development. However, the lack of validated instruments in multicultural contexts such as Sabah limits systematic examination of these dynamics. This study examined the construct validity and reliability of the Child–Parent Relationship Scale-Short Form (CPRS-SF) in measuring the dimensions of conflict and closeness among preschoolers. Cronbach’s alpha values indicated high internal consistency for both subscales (conflict α = 0.899; closeness α = 0.941). Exploratory factor analysis further supported construct validity, with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measures of 0.907 and 0.888 and statistically significant Bartlett’s tests (p < .001), demonstrating that the dataset was suitable for factor analysis. These results demonstrate that the CPRS-SF is both reliable and valid for use in the Sabah context. The findings carry important implications for research, practice, and policy. The validated instrument provides researchers with a robust tool to explore the influence of parenting relationships on child outcomes, while offering practitioners and policymakers evidence-based support for designing interventions that strengthen family interactions. By validating the CPRS-SF in a multilingual and multicultural setting, this study contributes to methodological rigor in early childhood research and highlights the need for further validation across diverse populations and longitudinal contexts.
Downloads
References
Bate, J., Pham, P. T., & Borelli, J. L. (2021). Be My Safe Haven: Parent-Child Relationships and Emotional Health during COVID-19. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 46(6), 624–634. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab046
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 1(3), 185-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301
Callanan, J., Signal, T., & McAdie, T. (2023). Involving parents in early intervention: therapists’ experience of the parent-child relationally informed-early intervention (PCRI-EI) model of practice. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 70(5), 674-687. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2021.1910933
Child, D. (2006). The essentials of factor analysis (3rd ed.). Continuum.
Chow, C. M., Hart, E., Ellis, L., & Tan, C. C. (2017). Interdependence of attachment styles and relationship quality in parent-adolescent dyads. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.09.009
Driscoll, K., & Pianta, R. C. (2011). Mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of conflict and childhood. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology, 7, 1–24.
Dyer, W. J., Kaufman, R., & Fagan, J. (2017). Father–child closeness and conflict: Validating measures for nonresident fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(8), 1074. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000384
Feeney, B. C., & Woodhouse, S. S. (2016). Caregiving. Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications, 3, 827-51.
Flykt, M. (2014). Prenatal representations predicting parent-child relationship in transition to parenthood : risk and family dynamic considerations. (Acta Universitatis Tamperensis; No. 1951). Tampere University Press. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-44-9503-8
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hoelzle, J. B., & Meyer, G. J. (2013). Exploratory factor analysis: Basics and beyond. In J. A. Schinka, W. F. Velicer, & I. B. Weiner (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Research methods in psychology (2nd ed., pp. 164–188). John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118133880.hop202006
Kaiser, H. F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. psychometrika, 39(1), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02291575
Laible, D. J., & Thompson, R. A. (2002). Mother–child conflict in the toddler years: Lessons in emotion, morality, and relationships. Child development, 73(4), 1187-1203. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00466
Lincoln, C. R., Russell, B. S., Donohue, E. B., & Racine, L. E. (2017). Mother-child interactions and preschoolers’ emotion regulation outcomes: Nurturing autonomous emotion regulation. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(2), 559-573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0561-z
Liu, Q., & Ompok, C. S. C. (2022a). The influence of parenting styles on child-parent relationship among Chinese and Bumiputera in Sabah. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(9). https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i9.1762
Liu, Q., & Ompok, C. S. C. (2022b). The influence of social support on child-parent relationship among Chinese mothers of preschoolers in Penampang, Sabah. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(11). https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v7i11.1880
Liu, Q., & Ompok, C. S. C. (2025). The influence of parenting styles and child-parent relationship on home literacy environment: Empirical evidence from Malaysia. Humanities and Social Sciences Letters, 13(4), 1190–1203. https://doi.org/10.18488/73.v13i4.4394
Lloret, S., Ferreres, A., Hernández, A., & Tomás, I. (2017). The exploratory factor analysis of items: Guided analysis based on empirical data and software. Anales de psicología, 33(2), 417-432. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.2.270211
Pianta, R. C. (1992). Child–Parent Relationship Scale. University of Virginia.
Sears, R. R. (1951). A theoretical framework for personality and social behavior. American Psychologist, 6(9), 476-483. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0063671
Xu, L., Liu, L., Li, Y., Liu, L., & Huntsinger, C. S. (2018). Parent–child relationships and Chinese children's social adaptations: Gender difference in parent–child dyads. Personal Relationships, 25(4), 462-479. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12254
