Refining the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form (PSI-SF) in Chinese Parents

The Parenting Stress Index–Short Form (PSI-SF) is a popular brief assessment of parenting stress. However, its latent structure and psychometric properties have not been extensively addressed, in particular in non-Western cultures. The present study is the first to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the PSI-SF in parents from Mainland China (683 mother–father dyads; mean age of mothers = 37.10 years, SD = 3.68; mean age of fathers = 39.81 years, SD = 4.13). Initial analyses revealed that previously proposed factor structure of the PSI-SF did not fit the data well. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were then conducted to develop a psychometrically sound and efficient abbreviated version of the PSI-SF. In this new version of 15 items (PSI-SF-15), there are three factors (i.e., parental distress, parent–child dysfunctional interaction, and difficult child). This abbreviated scale showed strict measurement invariance across sex of parent and satisfactory internal consistency. The convergent validity of the PSI-SF-15 were supported by its expected relations with the original PSF-SF measures, the multitrait–multimethod procedure, and its expected relations with scores on parenting behavior, parental depressiveness, and children’s conduct problems. In conclusion, these results suggest that the PSI-SF-15 is a valid measure of parenting stress in Chinese parents, and that it holds promise as an informative and reliable alternative to the original PSI-SF when administration time is limited.