Factor analysis of the EMBU scale in a large sample of Japanese volunteers

The EMBU (Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran; (one's memories of upbringing') is a convenient and reliable instrument for the assessment of parental attitudes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which the factor structure of the EMBU, obtained in previous investigations, could be retrieved in a large Japanese sample.

The EMBU scale was administered to 1320 healthy Japanese volunteers. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed.

The first factor in the analysis, accounting for 9.9% (father) and 10.6% (mother) of the variance, consisted of rejection items. The second factor, accounting for 9.1% (father) and 8.6% (mother) of the variance, contained items relating to emotional warmth. The third factor appeared to represent overprotection, and accounted for 7.8% (father) and 7.8% (mother) of the variance. The fourth factor, which accounted for 3.7% (father) and 3.7% (mother) of the variance, included items classified under favouring subjects. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that this four-factor structure fitted our data very well for both the father and the mother. The results of factor analysis for four subscales showed three major factors for the EMBU.

The results of this study confirmed that the EMBU yielded a factor structure in Japan similar to that found in European countries. The EMBU is useful for comparison of parenting attitudes in different societies or countries.