Parenting Practices in Vietnam: An Investigation of the Psychometric Properties of the PBS-S and PCS

Background: There has been an increase in externalizing problem behaviour in Vietnam over the last decade and parenting has been considered an important factor in the development of problem behaviour in adolescents in Western countries. However, few studies addressed parenting in a Vietnamese context, which may be due to the lack of a validated questionnaire. Objective: The present study aims to translate and validate a Vietnamese version of the Parental Behavior Scale-Short form (PBS-S) and the Psychological Control Scale (PCS). Method: We collected data from 529 Vietnamese parents (60% mothers; Mage = 39.50, SD = 5.25), who have children from 10 to 14 years old. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to investigate the factor structure of the combined parenting questionnaires. Afterwards, the subscales Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, and Prosocial Behavior from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to establish criterion (i.e., convergent and divergent) validity. Results: The combination of items of the PBS-S and PCS resulted in a six-factor structure representing the original six scales (PBS-S: Positive Parenting, Discipline, Punishment, Material Reward and Rule Setting; PCS: Psychological Control). Conclusions: The Vietnamese version of the PBS-S and PCS proved to be valid and will be useful to investigate the perception of Vietnamese parents on their parenting behaviour and the association with psychosocial outcome measures in Vietnamese adolescents.