The Parenting Scale (80) is a 30-item self-report questionnaire that measures three dysfunctional discipline styles in parents: laxness (permissive discipline), over-reactivity (authoritarian discipline), and hostility (use of verbal or physical force). Each item requires the parent to rate the likelihood of using a particular discipline strategy in response to common child misbehaviors using a 7-point Likert-type scale. Item scares are summed and then averaged to give a total score ranging from 1 to 7. The Parenting Scale has been found to be a valid and reliable tool with good test–retest reliability (r = 0.84) and is recommended as a tool for measuring parenting skill (81) and will be an important and relevant measure of functioning specifically in mothers of young children. On average this questionnaire takes 10 min.
