Psychometric Evaluation of the Parental Monitoring Short Scale (PMSS)

Abstract This study evaluated the psychometric properties and validity of the Parental Monitoring Short Scale (PMSS) across reservation-based American Indian and White youth. The PMSS is a shortened and revised version of previous measures of Parental Knowledge, Parental Control, Child Disclosure, and Parental Solicitation. EFA and CFA supported three factors, with Child Disclosure and Parental Solicitation forming a single factor. Configural, scale, and metric invariance were supported across grade level, sex, and ethnicity. Additionally, scale factors were negatively related to substance use, supporting its validity as reported in previous research. This shortened scale of parental monitoring with simplified language can provide a useful measure to comprehensively assess parental monitoring across various subgroups of youth. Further work with this scale among other ethnic groups will determine the breadth of its utility.