1 - (SYM 113) Measurement of the Parent Cognitions of Parenting Self-efficacy and Attributions to Improve Child Mental Health

Parent cognitions are important to understand to improve parent and child mental health. Two types of parent cognitions within the literature are parenting self-efficacy (e.g., parental confidence in one’s own ability to parent effectively) and parental attributions (e.g., parental explanations for their child’s behaviour). This presentation will discuss the findings of two recent studies involving the measurement of parent cognitions. In the first study, psychometric validation of the Parent Cognitive Errors Questionnaire (PCEQ) among a sample of 199 7- to 11-year-old children with ADHD-Inattentive Presentation across two sites (University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Berkeley) will be presented. The factor structure of the PCEQ yielded the two subscales of parent-specific cognitive errors (parental attributions of responsibility to themselves for child problems), and child-specific cognitive errors (parental attributions of responsibility to their child for child problems). The associations of these subscales with parental depression, parenting satisfaction, parenting self-efficacy, child Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and child Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms will be discussed. Study two examined the initial measurement of parental attributions regarding teacher behaviours and parental self-efficacy specific to collaborating effectively with teachers, given that positive parent-teacher collaborations are important to child outcomes. Eighty-six parents of 6- to 11-year-old children participated across two sites (University of Alberta and Saint Paul University). Parents completed the newly-developed Parent-Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (PTSES) and Parent-Teacher Attribution Scale (PTAS), along with questionnaires examining parent and child symptoms and the parent-teacher relationship. Data collection occurred across three years, with three time-points within a given school year. Much of this study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary findings regarding the properties of the PTSES and PTAS along with their cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with relevant constructs will be presented. The importance of additional studies to understand the measurement of specific parent cognitions will be highlighted.