ORIGINAL PAPER Psychometric Properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-Preschool Revision (APQ-Pr) in 3 Year-Old Spanish Preschoolers Nu´ria de la Osa • Roser Granero • Eva Penelo • Josep Maria Dome`nech • Lourdes Ezpeleta Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Parenting practices should be assessed and taken into account at an early age, since it is well documented that they are strongly related to children’s development. This study provides data on the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire for Preschool children (APQ-Pr). A community sample of 622 (310 boys and 312 girls) 3 year-old children and their par- ents, participated in the study. Data were obtained from parents’ reports and correspond to a semi-structured diag- nostic interview and self-report questionnaires evaluating parenting and children’s psychological states. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor solution: positive parenting, inconsistent parenting and punitive parenting. These scales scores showed moderate to good internal consistence (omega values ranged from .54 to .86). Incon- sistent parenting scores achieved the strongest associations with external measures of psychopathology, especially for externalizing and conduct problems, as well as for functional impairment, the poorest associations being for the positive parenting scores. Results support the validity of the Spanish APQ-Pr, which is potentially a useful measure for the study of parenting practices regarding preschool children and their relation to conduct problems. Keywords Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Á Conduct problems Á Factor analysis Á Parenting Á Preschool assessment Introduction Conduct problems are one of the most common reasons for children being referred to mental health services (Frick and Silverthorn 2001). They are complex problems, with a high comorbidity, with other problems, particularly Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, and usually combine genetic and environmental etiological factors (Frick and McMahon 2008). Of the several environmental risk factors that have been associated with the development and maintenance of conduct problems in childhood, parenting practices are among the best established (Chamberlain and Patterson 1995; Dadds 1995; Patterson and Reid 1984). The most associated parenting practices include harsh discipline, inconsistent discipline, poor supervision, lack of involve- ment and rigid discipline (Chamberlain et al. 1997). Despite this strong association between parenting practices and conduct problems, it still has to be studied in terms of causality and more research is needed to test different models of that relation, as well as the possible differenti- ation between certain parenting practices and specific types of conduct disorder (Frick and McMahon 2008). One of the most commonly used instruments in the study of the parenting practices related to conduct problems in childhood and adolescence is the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ, Frick 1991). The APQ is a 42-item questionnaire designed to measure parenting characteristics N. de la Osa (&) Á L. Ezpeleta Unitat d’Epidemiologia i de Diagno`stic en Psicopatologia del Desenvolupament, Departament de Psicologia Clı ´nica i de la Salut, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain e-mail: nuria.delaosa@uab.es; nuria.delaosa@uab.cat R. Granero Á J. M. Dome`nech Unitat d’Epidemiologia i de Diagno`stic en Psicopatologia del Desenvolupament, Departament de Psicobiologia i Metodologia de les Cie`ncies de la Salut, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain E. Penelo Departament de Psicobiologia i Metodologia de les Cie`ncies de la Salut, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 123 J Child Fam Stud DOI 10.1007/s10826-013-9730-5