Measuring adolescents' perceived parental academic pressure: A scale development study

The purpose of the present study was to develop a multidimensional scale to measure adolescents' perceived parental academic pressure. Based on the related literature, three dimensions were conceptualized including psychological pressure, restriction, and too high expectations. 33 items were generated based on these dimensions and the scale development process was conducted in a two-phased approach including exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. In the first phase, 365 high school students were surveyed, and the factor structure of the scale was determined. In the second phase, the suggested factor structure through EFA was replicated by utilizing CFA among an independent sample of 376 high school students. For criterion validity, the relationships between parental pressure and life satisfaction and school achievement were examined in both studies. Further, to test the reliability, Cronbach alpha and omega coefficients were calculated and test-retest reliability was also examined. The results showed that the new scale has promising psychometric properties. Additional, limitations and future research possibilities of the study were discussed.