Development and validation of the Nurturing Parenting Beliefs and Behaviors Scale (NPBBS): Measuring parenting in high Andean Peru.

Despite growing interest in supporting caregivers’ use of nurturing care globally, few parenting measures have been validated for use outside of Minority World contexts. This study aims to develop, describe, and provide validity evidence for an efficient, culturally relevant instrument to measure local nurturing parenting beliefs and behaviors regarding responsive caregiving and early learning within a sample of caregivers of 2- to 5-year-olds in Cajamarca, Peru. We used a multiple methods phased study design to develop the self-reported parenting instrument, Nurturing Parenting Beliefs and Behaviors Scale, including qualitative interviews, focus groups, cognitive testing, and quantitative pilot testing. The final validation sample included 2,274 mothers of children (Mage = 29.41 months, 49.56% female) from Cajamarca, Peru. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the factor structure of the instrument and correlations and regressions to validate it against parenting and child development outcomes. Results indicate a two-factor structure reflecting nurturing parenting beliefs (α = .84) and behaviors (α = .82). Analyses of concurrent validity showed that the parenting beliefs and behaviors subscales correlated positively with parental stimulation and learning materials. Both parenting beliefs and behaviors positively predicted early childhood development (parent report and direct assessment). This instrument can be used as a starting point for measuring parenting in other Majority World contexts with similar caregiver characteristics.