Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Counselor Education
Department
Leadership and Counselor Education
First Advisor
Marilyn S. Snow
Second Advisor
Amanda Winburn
Third Advisor
Tabitha Young
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine if an abbreviated version of the Adult Scale of Parental Attachment (ASPA; Snow, Sullivan, Martin, & Helm, 2005) could be developed with an emphasis on the instrument's item selection, factor structure, and psychometric properties. The ASPA, building upon attachment theory, is a self-report measure that assesses individuals' patterns of relating based on their relationships with both mother and father figures in childhood. Utilizing the conceptual underpinnings of Classical Test Theory and factor analysis, a 40-item version of the ASPA (called the ASPA-SF) was created from 1,075 archived responses through a test construction and test tryout. Building upon this procedure, the substantiation of the ASPA-SF was established through confirmatory factor analysis and validity to the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) with a separate group of 250 archived responses. Lastly, the theory of the instrument was tested on a population of 222 prison participants to evaluate the factor structure and psychometric properties. While the reliability of the instrument was maintained, the validity of the ASPA-SF could not be verified in working with a prison population. Due to the 84-item length of the original ASPA, the study was significant as an abbreviated version of the ASPA has the potential to save time for both the participant and administrator, and contribute to counseling research literature on patterns of relating.
Recommended Citation
Michael, Anthony Aron, "The Adult Scale Of Parental Attachment-Short Form: Item Selection, Factor Structure, And Psychometric Properties" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 462.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/462