Psychometric Properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire among Adolescents with Substance Use Disorder...

Psychometrically sound parenting instruments are a critical aid in guiding clinical assessments of adolescent behavioral outcomes, particularly among clinical samples of adolescents. However, there is a paucity of research on these parenting instruments among adolescents with histories of substance use disorders (SUDs) who represent a high-risk clinical population for whom parents are critical in their recovery process. This study investigated the psychometric properties of an abridged 17-item Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) in a sample of 294 adolescents (45% female, mean age = 16 years) and their parents (84% female) recruited from substance use treatment facilities as part of a longitudinal parent study. Confirmatory factor analyses established the factor fit of the abridged APQ, and path analyses assessed the predictive validity of the APQ constructs in relation to adolescent externalizing behaviour symptoms 6 months later. Results suggested the hypothesized three-factor model consisting of Positive Parenting, Poor Monitoring, and Inconsistent Discipline parenting constructs represented a satisfactory fit to the data, with minor modifications in scale content for both adolescent and parent versions. All three latent factors were moderately correlated in the adolescent-reported version, but there was no evidence that Inconsistent Discipline and Poor Monitoring were significantly correlated in the parent-reported version. Additionally, results supported the predictive validity of these constructs related to adolescent externalizing behavioral outcomes. Overall, results of the present study support the utility of a multi-informant abridged parenting assessment. However, some items of the Parental Monitoring and Inconsistent Discipline constructs may not be strong indicators of parenting practices among youth in recovery from SUDs. We conclude with suggestions for future research efforts as well as clinical implications of parenting measures among adolescents with SUD histories.