La casa suburbana como símbolo (adentro vs afuera)

The field of PCP has been developed to address both a longstanding imbalance within clinical psychology and a current lack of integration between the fields of clinical and positive psychology (Wood & Johnson, 2016; Wood & Tarrier, 2010). Clinical

psychology has maintained a nearly exclusive focus on the amelioration of dysfunction. Although the field of positive psychology was developed as a counter to this, it has led to a discipline almost exclusively focused on the development of well-being for those who are functioning normally, or with relatively mild impairment, to the near exclusion of positive principles (Wood & Johnson, 2016). PCP makes an effort to draw equally and integratively from the vantage points of clinical and positive psychology in developing constructs and strategies that most effectively address suffering along the full spectrum of dysfunction (Johnson & Wood, 2016).

In line with the general focus of clinical psychology, numerous studies have shown the impact of negative parenting on children (e.g. Hasebe, Nucci, & Nucci, 2004;

Pomerantz & Wang, 2009). It has only been more recently that research has begun to explore the processes and outcomes associated with positive parenting (Clark & Ladd, 2000; Dallaire et al., 2006). Somewhat surprisingly, these studies suggest that negative and positive parenting constructs are orthogonal, with each making its own unique contribution to a child’s development (Dallaire et al., 2006; Keyfitz et al., 2013). This further underscores the need for inclusion of positive constructs, since their presence is not implied, as many have assumed, by the absence of negative constructs. Over the

past 70 years, positive parenting constructs in established instruments were generally centred on the dimensions of warmth and control. Although in later years, autonomy was further subdivided, only two to three positive constructs predominated. Rather than building on these, the development of the PPSI was based on a unique clinically based theoretical model from ST in which seven positive parenting constructs emerged to complement its counterpart, the YPI. Given the complexity of childhood development and variations in needs among children at different developmental phases, it seems likely that a model such as this that goes beyond the few broad dimensions, and

provides a more complete and nuanced framework, would also help both therapists and parents.

The PPSI demonstrated construct validity with several other established parenting scales, with statistically significant moderate correlations. A moderate level of strength showed that although constructs were similar, they also measured different facets of the broader dimensions under consideration. For convergent validity, all of the scales of PPSI (Fathers) and PPSI (Mothers) correlated significantly and in the negative direction with three subscales of emotional distress (DASS-21) as well as with subscales

measuring negative personality dispositions (PAQ). Most of the PPSI (Fathers) and PPSI (Mothers) also correlated positively with subscales measuring positive well-being (Ryff’s Psychological Scale) and the positive trait of gratitude (GQ-6 scale). As

expected, correlations were from low to moderate. Divergent validity was also demonstrated, for the most part, between subscales of PPSI (Fathers) and PPSI (Mothers) with subscales of YPI-R (Fathers) and YPI-R (Mothers), respectively, that correlated the highest with ones that correlated less strongly. The unique contribution of the PPSI, evident from the incremental validity test, was particularly pivotal,

considering that the YPI-R with nine subscales was used, in addition to three other established parenting measures (s-EMBU, CTQ and PARQ). This also showed that the more nuanced PPSI subscales were able to measure statistically significant variance over and above that measured by the more broader parenting constructs from these established parenting measures. The now validated PPSI with seven subscales and 50 items can be used in tandem with the negative version of this scale, the YPI-R, to provide a means of measuring the full-spectrum of parenting behaviour, especially in clinical settings within ST.

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Significant and meaningful correlations were also shown between positive schemas measured by the YPSQ and subscales of the PPSI for ratings of fathers and mothers in the USA sample. As with EMSs (Sheffield et al., 2005; Thimm, 2010), this association with EASs in adults suggests that past positive parenting patterns play a significant role. The findings from this study therefore provide preliminary support that healthy

parenting patterns are associated with EASs. MGCFA analysis, considered the most powerful approach for testing invariance (Milfont & Fischer, 2010), showed invariance of the factor structure of the PPSI across Eastern and Western samples. This provided some support that schemas are universal (Young et al., 2003).

One limitation of this study is that the Realistic Expectations subscale had to be dropped. Based on clinical experience and relevance, it seems likely that this construct is an important one, so it is hoped that new and better items will be developed in future studies. Another limitation was that the incentive of providing free workshops for the participants may have drawn those that were curious about such matters, so

generalisability of these results may be confined to this population. Further, the Autonomy Granting and Confidence and Competence subscales of PPSI, which only appeared robustly in the fathers scale (was weak in the mothers), have to be tested further to see if these constructs are, indeed, unique to fathers, or just in the samples used in this study. Also, although the sample size was large and most of the regression models were achieved with a conservative p value (p < .001), the non-normality of some of the data for the dependent variables in the regression analysis may have also been a limitation.

A measure of well-being is often thought of in terms of the reduction of unhealthy parent-child dynamics. While negative effects of unhealthy parenting patterns affects children in both Eastern and Western cultures (Hasebe et al., 2004; Pomerantz & Wang, 2009), results from this study showed that early positive parenting patterns, regardless of culture, are associated with positive outcomes that also carry into adulthood.

Furthermore, results underscore that the absence of negative parenting patterns does not necessarily imply the presence of positive ones. The lack of positive patterns in families that are relatively void of negative ones can also inflict harm and impair healthy

development, as seen by the correlations of the PPSI from this study with measures of emotional distress and well-being. These results show the need for positive parenting

patterns to be emphasised in families from both the West and the East. Many of the positive patterns that were identified in this study seem to transcend culture. Eastern cultures being less supportive of positive verbal expression and more supportive of silence than Western ones has often been viewed as culturally relative to the point that this practice could be seen as serving a child well in the East but not in the West. Although there may be ways in which this is true, from the vantage point of the

measures used in this study, parenting that encourages affection, warmth, and openness, and that does not discourage freedom of expression, correlates positively to

developmental outcomes in both cultures. Another important emphasis is the

contribution made by fathers. For many years mothers were seen as the most crucial primary caregiver, and fathers took a back seat when it came to parenting. The need for fathers’ involvement is an ongoing issue and has been the target for intervention by many initiatives. The results of this present study confirm that of others (e.g., Yogman et al., 2016) in underscoring the role of fathers, as subscales derived from the PPSI for the ratings of fathers correlated with psychopathology just as they did for mothers. This suggests that the role of fathers is as important as that of mothers. The PPSI scale is therefore an important step towards increasing the depth and breadth of our

understanding of aspects of adaptive parenting that may prove to be universal and holds promise as a significant contribution to the repertoire of available positive parenting measures.

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Chapter 5 –Psychometric Validation of the Young