TY - JOUR
T1 - Validation of the Regulating Emotions in Parenting Scale (REPS)
T2 - Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance
AU - Rodriguez, Violeta J.
AU - Shaffer, Anne
N1 - Funding Information:
Violeta J. Rodriguez’s work on this article was supported by a Ford Foundation Fellowship, administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. For permission to use the REPS, contact Anne Shaffer at ashaffer@uga.edu.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Psychological Association
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Parenting provides many positive experiences for mothers and fathers but also presents them with many challenges, such as regulating their emotions during interactions with their children. While emotion regulation (ER) has emerged as an important predictor of parenting behavior and a transdiagnostic target of parenting interventions, measures specifically targeting ER in the parenting context are lacking. This study describes the development and evaluation of the Regulating Emotions in Parenting Scale (REPS). Study 1 used an exploratory factor analysis and supported a 3-factor (Adaptive Strategies, Suppression, and Rumination) structure of the REPS in a sample of 331 parents (73% women) recruited from Amazon MTurk (parent Mage = 36.02, SDage = 9.27). This factor structure was confirmed in Study 2 using confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample of 662 parents (61% women; parent Mage = 36.81, SDage = 14.18). Tests of measurement invariance and differential item functioning provided evidence of invariance of the REPS by gender. Correlations between REPS factors and related measures of parenting, psychopathology, and general ER were in the expected direction; correlations between the REPS and parenting and psychopathology were significantly higher in magnitude than correlations between general measures of ER and parenting and psychopathology. The REPS also explained more of the variance in parenting measures than general measures of ER. These findings indicated that the REPS may provide greater specificity than general measures of ER. Future studies should replicate these findings in other populations and establish invariance by race and ethnicity.
AB - Parenting provides many positive experiences for mothers and fathers but also presents them with many challenges, such as regulating their emotions during interactions with their children. While emotion regulation (ER) has emerged as an important predictor of parenting behavior and a transdiagnostic target of parenting interventions, measures specifically targeting ER in the parenting context are lacking. This study describes the development and evaluation of the Regulating Emotions in Parenting Scale (REPS). Study 1 used an exploratory factor analysis and supported a 3-factor (Adaptive Strategies, Suppression, and Rumination) structure of the REPS in a sample of 331 parents (73% women) recruited from Amazon MTurk (parent Mage = 36.02, SDage = 9.27). This factor structure was confirmed in Study 2 using confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample of 662 parents (61% women; parent Mage = 36.81, SDage = 14.18). Tests of measurement invariance and differential item functioning provided evidence of invariance of the REPS by gender. Correlations between REPS factors and related measures of parenting, psychopathology, and general ER were in the expected direction; correlations between the REPS and parenting and psychopathology were significantly higher in magnitude than correlations between general measures of ER and parenting and psychopathology. The REPS also explained more of the variance in parenting measures than general measures of ER. These findings indicated that the REPS may provide greater specificity than general measures of ER. Future studies should replicate these findings in other populations and establish invariance by race and ethnicity.
KW - Emotion regulation
KW - Item response theory
KW - Measurement invariance
KW - Parenting
KW - Psychometrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091347404&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85091347404&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/fam0000808
DO - 10.1037/fam0000808
M3 - Article
C2 - 32940490
AN - SCOPUS:85091347404
SN - 0893-3200
VL - 35
SP - 468
EP - 477
JO - Journal of Family Psychology
JF - Journal of Family Psychology
IS - 4
ER -