Development of a Scale Measuring Parent-Child Relationships Focused on the Limit Setting by the Parents

The purpose of this study was to develop a new parent-child relationships scale focused on the limit setting by the parents. Based on previous studies, three dimensions of parent-child relationships were hypothesized: emotional acceptance by the parents, clearly defined limits, and respect for individual action within the defined limits. The questionnaire measuring parent-child relationships was administered to 107 university students. The major findings were as follows: 1) Through conducting factor analysis with promax rotation, an 18item Parent-child Relationships Scale with three subscales assessing Emotional Acceptance, Limit Setting, and Respect within the Limits was developed and validated. These subscales were consistent with previous studies, and all subscales demonstrated very high internal consistency reliability. 2) “Limit Setting” subscale was significantly correlated with “Emotional Acceptance” subscale and “Respect within the Limits” subscale in both mother-child relationships and father-child relationships. 3) It showed no significant gender differences between all subscales. 4) The examination of intrapersonal differences between mother-child relationships and father-child relationships, it was found that “Emotional Acceptance” subscale and “Limit Setting” subscale of motherchild relationships were higher than those of father-child relationships. These findings insisted the importance of limit setting by the parents, and a reliable parent-child relationships scale focused on the limit setting by the parents was developed. Furthermore, validation of this parent-child relationships scale is required