Construction of the modified parenting practices questionnaire with the disengaged parenting style scale

The Parenting Practices Questionnaire (PPQ) is a widely used instrument based on Baumrind's theory of parenting styles, originally comprising scales for three parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. However, the PPQ does not include scales for the disengaged (uninvolved-neglectful) parenting style identified in Baumrind's studies. The aim of this study was to develop a modified version of the PPQ, incorporating a Disengaged Parenting Style scale. The study involved a sample of 438 parents of preschool children in Serbia. The item pool of the original questionnaire was expanded by incorporating items designed to capture the Disengaged parenting style, based on Baumrind's typology. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was utilized to establish the factorial structure of the instrument. The following factors were established: Uninvolvement; Warmth and Involvement; Directiveness and Hostility; Democratic Participation and Reasoning; Non-Reasoning and Punitive Strategies; Indulgence; Neglect and Indulgence. The corresponding scales have acceptable to good internal consistency reliability, with the exception of Indulgence and Non-reasoning/Punitive Strategies. This version of the instrument may contribute to a more comprehensive study of parenting styles, as it contains the scales of all four parenting styles proposed by Baumrind's theory.