Parental Behavior Inventory: Psychometric Properties in Two South American Contexts

Objective. The Parental Behavior Inventory (PBI) assesses reports of parenting behaviors along two dimensions: supportive/engaged (S/E) and hostile/coercive (H/C). However, its cross-cultural validity, particularly in Spanish-speaking populations, remains underexplored. This study aimed to provide evidence of the PBI’s content validity, internal structure (dimensionality, reliability, group equivalence), and association with the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire. Design. Six hundred eighty-eight Colombian and Uruguayan parents with children aged 4–10 years participated. Results. Content adaptation ensured a clear and culturally appropriate Spanish-speaking version for both groups. Dimensionality analysis supported the original two-factor orthogonal model but revealed high factorial complexity due to cross-loadings. A refined 11-item version (PBI-S) reduced this complexity and maintained validity. The PBI-S demonstrated measurement invariance across country, educational level, gender, and socioeconomic status, with omega reliability exceeding .85 for S/E and .65 for H/C. S/E positively correlated with democratic parenting styles, and H/C aligned with authoritarian and permissive styles. Conclusions. This study introduces a concise, reliable PBI version suitable for Spanish-speaking contexts, offering a valuable tool for measuring perceived parenting behaviors critical to the development of school-age children.