Parental Behaviors in the Context of Adolescent Disclosure (PBAD): Instrument Development

Abstract

The aim of the study was to develop an instrument formeasuring the Parental Behaviors in the Context of AdolescentDisclosure (PBAD) and to examine its dimensionality, internalconsistency, predictive and construct validity. The scale hasbeen developed on the basis of a qualitative study ofadolescents' views (Tokić & Pećnik, 2011) and consists of 2subscales: the PBAD-A (antecedents of disclosure) and PBAD-R(reactions to previous disclosures). It was implemented with1074 adolescents (13-year-olds) from 50 schools in Croatia(probabilistic cluster sample). Adolescents also reported ondisclosure about daily activities, feelings and concerns. Youthgave estimations for mothers and fathers separately. Latentstructures of the PBAD-A and PBAD-R were interpretable andreasonably congruent for mothers and fathers. Factor analysesof the PBAD-A revealed three factors: Initiating conversation,Intrusiveness and Unavailability. Factor analyses of the PBAD-Ryielded three factors: Support and respectful guidance, A let--down and Punishment. Internal consistency for all factors wasacceptable (0.75 – 0.92). All except one of the extractedfactors of the PBAD correlated with actual disclosure tomothers and fathers about daily activities, feelings andconcerns significantly and in the predicted direction, whichsupports the predictive and construct validity of the instrument.