Thoughts and affect experienced by parents of preschool- and school-aged children during night-waking interactions.

Measures of parents’ cognitions have advanced our understanding of infants’ sleep. But, few comparable measures exist for use with parents of preschool- or school-age children. The Parents’ night-waking thoughts and affect questionnaire (PNTQ), a self-report measure of parents’ thoughts and feelings when their children wake during the night, addresses this need. This scale was evaluated in two community samples of parents (N = 473). Sample 1 included preschool-age children (2–5-years-old), and Sample 2 included preschool- and school-age children (2–10-years-old). A subsample completed 1-month test–retest reliability for the PNTQ (n = 201). Parents completed the PNTQ and measures of agreement with night-waking strategies, parenting stress, mental health, and night-waking. The psychometric properties of the PNTQ (i.e., internal consistency, test–retest reliability; content, construct, and convergent validity) were evaluated. A four-factor solution (positive thoughts about limit-setting, positive thoughts about active comforting, concerns about limit-setting, and distress about night-waking) demonstrated adequate fit in Sample 1 (robust CFI = .900; robust RMSEA = .060), which was replicated in Sample 2 (robust CFI = .870; robust RMSEA = .080). Internal consistency (αc = .68–.88) and test–retest reliability (r = .46–.80) were acceptable across subscales and samples. There was good evidence for convergent validity in both samples—including correlating with...
Source: Journal of Family Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research