The development of a parental attachment recognition scale for mothers nurturing preschool children.
Yoko Tanaka
PMID 31868963WHAT IT FOUND
A new 27-item questionnaire lets mothers rate their own childhood attachment experiences in about five minutes.
It groups these feelings into parent-child contact, emotional bond, and parental impressions, offering a quick way to spot mothers who may need extra support.
Key findings
01The Parental Attachment Recognition Scale (PARS) consists of 27 items organized into three factors: Parent–child contact, Emotional bond, and Parental impressions.
02The scale demonstrates acceptable reliability and validity, with internal consistency coefficients ranging from 0.83 to 0.94 and correlations with established measures of attachment and self-esteem.
03The questionnaire is designed to be quick to administer, taking about five minutes, making it suitable for nursing home visits and check-ups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The scale was developed and validated only with Japanese mothers, so its accuracy in other cultural or ethnic groups is not yet known. The study did not test the scale's effectiveness in predicting actual child abuse or parenting outcomes, only its statistical properties. Mothers with very negative childhood experiences might be reluctant to answer honestly, which could affect the results. The scale measures only the mother's perception of her relationship with her parents, not relationships with other caregivers or her current parenting practices.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this scale as a diagnostic tool for child abuse or as a predictor of parenting failure. It measures a mother's subjective perception of her own childhood attachment experiences, not her current competence or the safety of her child. A low score indicates difficult early memories, not necessarily poor parenting.