Psychometric Properties of the Parental Stress Scale in Swedish Parents of Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Lindström, Therese; Bergman, Tiina Holmberg; Annerstedt, Mathilde; Forster, Martin; Bölte, Sven; Hirvikoski, Tatja

doi:10.2478/sjcapp-2024-0002

Figures & Tables

PSS Scores for Parents in the Low (n = 294), Middle (n = 144), and High (n = 105) ADHD Strata. Note. Mean scores are depicted as rombs, surrounded by 95% confidence intervals shown as error bars. Violin plots show the overall spread of scores, with quantiles marked. ADHD = Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; PSS = Parental Stress Scale; PSS F1 LPRS = PSS Factor 1 Lack of parental rewards and role satisfaction; PSS F2 PSD = PSS Factor 2 Parental stressors and distress. *p < .05, i.e., significant difference as indicated by linear regression analyses, using the low ADHD strata as reference.

Characteristics of the Study Participants’ Childrena

	Community sample (n = 1018)			Distressed parent sample (n = 653)			ADHD sample (n = 562)
	M	SD	min-max	M	SD	min-max	M	SD	min-max

Age	10.59	4.55	3–17	10.12	3.88	3–17	10.42	2.86	3–17

	n	%		n	%		n	%

Female gender	496	48.72		211	32.31		164	29.18
NDC
ADHD	35	3.44		76	11.64		547	97.33
Autism	21	2.06		218	33.38		0	0.00
ADHD and autism	14	1.38		173	26.49		12	2.14
ID w/wo autism or ADHD	n/a^b	n/a^b		138	21.13		n/a^b	n/a^b
Other disability^c	15	1.47		48	7.35
Any disability	87	8.55		653	100		562	100

Characteristics of the Study Participants in the Main Samples

	Community sample (n = 1018)			Distressed parent sample (n = 653)			ADHD sample (n = 562)
	M	SD	min-max	M	SD	min-max	M	SD	min-max

Age	40.96	8.34	19–63	43.43	6.54	24–68	43.24	6.66	26–73
Number of children < 18 years of age	1.78	0.80	1–6	2.05	0.80	1–6

	n	%		n	%		n	%

Female gender	554	54.42		555	84.99		339	60.32
Working	825	81.04		509	77.95		483	85.94
Highest education
Elementary	42	4.13		21	3.22		13	2.31
Upper secondary	491	48.23		177	21.77		231	41.10
University	485	47.64		344	52.68		274	48.75
Other				110	16.85		25	4.45
ADHD	29	2.85		29	4.44		20	3.56
Autism w/wo ADHD	18	1.77		24	3.68		n/a ^a	n/a ^a
HADS-Anx
normal (≤ 7)	587	57.66		77	11.79
mild (8–10)	197	19.35		141	21.59
≥ moderate (≥ 11)	234	22.99		431	66.00
HADS-Dep
normal (≤ 7)	775	76.13		258	39.51
mild (8–10)	170	16.7		191	29.25
≥ moderate (≥ 11)	73	7.17		199	30.47

Factor Loadings (Item-Factor Associations), Communalities and Eigenvalues for the Two Factors Identified in an Exploratory Factor Analysis of Community Sample data (n = 1018)

	F1	F2	h²
Factor 1 Lack of Parental Rewards and Role Satisfaction
5. I feel close to my child(ren) (r)	0.86^*	−0.09	0.71
6. I enjoy spending time with my child(ren) (r)	0.86^*	−0.01	0.73
2. There is little or nothing I wouldn’t do for my child(ren) if it was necessary (r)	0.81^*	−0.11	0.62
18. I find my child(ren) enjoyable (r)	0.80^*	0.04	0.66
7. My child(ren) is an important source of affection for me (r)	0.77^*	−0.12	0.55
1. I am happy in my role as a parent (r)	0.69^*	0.13	0.53
17. I am satisfied as a parent (r)	0.60^*	0.20	0.46
8. Having child(ren) gives me a more certain and optimistic view for the future (r)	0.50^*	−0.01	0.25
Factor 2 Parental Stressors and Distress
10. Having child(ren) leaves little time and flexibility in my life	−0.03	0.75^*	0.55
12. It is difficult to balance different responsibilities because of my child(ren)	0.01	0.74^*	0.56
16. Having child(ren) has meant having too few choices and too little control over my life	0.16	0.70^*	0.57
9. The major source of stress in my life is my child(ren)	0.06	0.68^*	0.48
3. Caring for my child(ren) sometimes takes more time and energy than I have to give	−0.22	0.63^*	0.38
11. Having child(ren) has been a financial burden	0.05	0.55^*	0.32
4. I sometimes worry whether I am doing enough for my child(ren)	−0.29	0.53^*	0.29
13. The behavior of my child(ren) is often embarrassing or stressful to me.	0.28	0.51^*	0.41
15. I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of being a parent	0.03	0.48^*	0.23
Item not included in factor interpretation
14. If I had it to do over again, I might decide not to have child(ren)
% of Variance	30.65	18.17
Correlation between factors: r	.25

PSS Item Characteristics, Including Item Means, Variances (s2), Difficulties (diffic_), Corrected Item-Total Correlations (rit), and Validities

	Community sample (n = 1018)				Distressed parent sample (n = 653)				ADHD sample (n = 562)				Item validities (Kruskal-Wallis H tests between samples, N = 2,233)
Items	M	s²	diffic.	r_it	M	s²	diffic.	r_it	M	s²	diffic.	r_it	Test statistic (df)	Dunn’s post hoc tests

1 (r)	1.59	0.84	0.32	.55	2.34	1.37	0.47	.64	1.85	0.92	0.37	.65	221.01 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
2 (r)	1.30	0.52	0.26	.42	1.18	0.22	0.24	.20	1.14	0.17	0.23	.15	15.51 (2) ^**	community > distressed = adhd ^*
3	3.50	1.56	0.70	.34	4.74	0.33	0.95	.22	4.17	1.06	0.83	.39	580.82 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
4	3.66	1.43	0.73	.22	4.45	1.01	0.89	.07	4.28	0.87	0.86	.22	303.70(2)^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
5 (r)	1.39	0.64	0.28	.46	1.49	0.65	0.30	.31	1.48	0.54	0.30	.40	20.42 (2) ^**	adhd = distressed > community ^**
6 (r)	1.41	0.63	0.28	.53	1.81	0.84	0.36	.59	1.49	0.54	0.30	.57	133.51 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
7 (r)	1.49	0.68	0.30	.39	1.76	1.09	0.35	.37	1.69	0.89	0.34	.30	33.31(2) ^**	distressed = adhd > community ^**
8 (r)	2.00	1.09	0.40	.32	2.76	1.41	0.55	.44	2.21	1.19	0.44	.33	177.57 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
9	2.42	1.53	0.48	.58	3.75	1.25	0.75	.35	2.98	1.72	0.60	.52	394.87 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
10	2.77	1.59	0.55	.56	3.45	1.61	0.69	.47	2.64	1.61	0.53	.51	142.57 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd = community ^**
11	2.42	1.64	0.48	.47	2.08	1.60	0.42	.28	2.20	1.53	0.44	.31	32.10 (2) ^**	community > distressed = adhd ^*
12	2.57	1.53	0.51	.60	3.53	1.39	0.71	.44	2.83	1.46	0.57	.51	227.03 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
13	1.85	1.31	0.37	.61	3.13	1.74	0.63	.39	2.62	1.52	0.52	.45	405.68 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
14	1.50	1.11	0.30	.60	1.70	1.23	0.34	.44	1.31	0.63	0.26	.45	52.18 (2) ^**	distressed > community > adhd ^*
15	2.50	1.74	0.50	.39	3.02	1.73	0.60	.39	2.35	1.75	0.47	.37	90.14 (2) ^**	distressed > community = adhd ^**
16	2.14	1.41	0.43	.67	2.73	1.69	0.55	.58	1.95	1.13	0.39	.54	129.09 (2) ^**	distressed > community > adhd ^*
17 (r)	1.68	0.72	0.34	.56	2.98	1.30	0.60	.57	2.19	1.21	0.44	.60	516.61 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**
18 (r)	1.38	0.50	0.28	.55	1.91	1.09	0.38	.46	1.61	0.77	0.32	.49	147.35 (2) ^**	distressed > adhd > community ^**

Min	1.30	0.50	0.26	0.22	1.18	0.22	0.24	0.07	1.14	0.17	0.23	0.15
Max	3.56	1.74	0.73	0.67	4.74	1.74	0.95	0.64	4.28	1.75	0.86	0.65
Median	1.92	1.21	0.38	0.54	2.75	1.28	0.55	0.41	2.19	1.10	0.44	0.45

Correlationsa Between Scores on the PSS and Related Constructs (General perceived stress, Anxiety, and Depression)

Community sample (n = 1018)

	M	SD	PSS	PSS Factor 1	PSS Factor 2	HADS-Anx	HADS-Dep	PSS-4

PSS	37.57	10.61	1.00	.69 ^**	.86 ^**	.55 ^**	.56 ^**	.50 ^**
PSS Factor 1	12.23	5.10		1.00	.23 ^**	.32 ^**	.43 ^**	.29 ^**
PSS Factor 2	23.83	7.44			1.00	.52 ^**	.45 ^**	.47 ^**
HADS-Anx	7.08	4.38				1.00	.71 ^**	.71 ^**
HADS-Dep	4.84	3.63					1.00	.67 ^**
PSS-4	5.59	2.94						1.00

Distressed parent sample (n = 653)

	M	SD	PSS	PSS Factor 1	PSS Factor 2	HADS-Anx	HADS-Dep

PSS	48.81	9.73	1.00	.82 ^**	.84 ^**	.22 ^**	.30 ^**
PSS Factor 1	16.23	5.23		1.00	.39 ^**	.09^*	.24 ^**
PSS Factor 2	30.88	5.79			1.00	.30 ^**	.26 ^**
HADS-Anx	12.29	3.87		.		1.00	49 ^**
HADS-Dep	8.75	3.61					1.00

PSS Sum Scores and Internal Consistency Estimates

PSS sum scores

	Community sample (n = 1018)				Distressed parent sample (n = 653)				ADHD sample (n = 562)

	n	M	SD	min-max	n	M	SD	min-max	n	M	SD	min-max

Total sample	1018	37.57	10.61	18–73	653	48.81	9.73	27–78	562	41.00	9.60	21–76
Mother ratings	554	36.85	10.41	18–73	555	48.79	9.53	27–78	339	41.62	9.95	22–76
Father ratings	464	38.43	10.79	18–72	97	49.01	10.86	29–73	206	39.80	8.94	21–66
Parent w/o NDC^a	971	37.25	10.53	18–73	596	48.66	9.71	27–78	521	40.83	9.61	21–76
Parent w/NDC^a	47	44.13	10.36	26–61	53	50.51	9.91	31–71	22	42.50	9.23	27–64
Child: daughter	496	37.19	10.90	18–69	211	48.38	10.06	27–76	164	41.23	9.38	21–66
Child: son	521	37.91	10.33	18–73	435	49.00	9.56	28–78	381	40.90	9.71	22–76

PSS internal consistency

	Community sample (n = 1018)				Distressed parent sample (n = 653)				ADHD sample (n = 562)

Cronbach’s alpha	.87				.82				.83
Average inter-item correlation (min, max)	.28 (−.21, .71)				.20 (−.13, .63)				.22 (−.16, .62)

Psychometric Properties of the Parental Stress Scale in Swedish Parents of Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Figures & Tables

FIGURE 1a–1c.

Characteristics of the Study Participants’ Childrena

Characteristics of the Study Participants in the Main Samples

Factor Loadings (Item-Factor Associations), Communalities and Eigenvalues for the Two Factors Identified in an Exploratory Factor Analysis of Community Sample data (n = 1018)

PSS Item Characteristics, Including Item Means, Variances (s2), Difficulties (diffic_), Corrected Item-Total Correlations (rit), and Validities

Correlationsa Between Scores on the PSS and Related Constructs (General perceived stress, Anxiety, and Depression)

PSS Sum Scores and Internal Consistency Estimates

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