Measurement invariance of the Intensive Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire across gender and race

Intensive parenting attitudes describe parents' views on child-rearing. Currently, Intensive Parenting Attitudes Questionnaire (IPAQ) is the only measure widely used in the field of family psychology and counseling to assess intensive parenting attitudes. However, it was developed from and validated with samples of predominately White mothers, which raises questions about its validity and generalizability to fathers and parents of other racial groups. The purpose of this study was to address this issue and assess the measurement invariance of the IPAQ with the data collected from both mothers and fathers of three racial groups (White, Black, and Asian Americans). Results indicated that measurement invariance of the IPAQ scale was not supported across gender and race, suggesting that the scale should be used with caution with different gender and racial groups. Recommendations were made to improve the scale and future studies to enhance the psychometric properties of the IPAQ were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).