Parenting Scale (PS)

The PS was originally developed as a rating scale to measure dysfunctional discipline practices in parents of preschool-aged children (18 to 48 months of age) and can be used to identify ‘mistakes’ that may contribute to ineffectual efforts to discipline young children. The PS has also been used with parents of older children (up to 16 years).

The PS identifies three stable factors of dysfunctional discipline style as (a) Laxness, (b) Overreactivity, and (c) Verbosity. The Laxness factor (11 items) describes the ways in which parents give in, allow rules to go unenforced, or provide positive consequences for misbehavior. The Overreactivity factor (10 items) reflects mistakes such as displays of anger, meanness, and irritability.