anales de psicología / annals of psychology 2021, vol. 37, nº 1 (january), 77-87 https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.408171 © Copyright 2021: Editum. Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia. Murcia (Spain) ISSN print edition: 0212-9728. ISSN online edition (http://revistas.um.es/analesps): 1695-2294. Online edition License Creative Commons 4.0: BY-SA - 77 - Maternal and paternal parenting styles as a whole: validation of the simple form of the Parenting Style Evaluation Scale Álvaro Balaguer 1 , Edgar Benítez 2* , Jesús de la Fuente 1 , and Alfonso Osorio 1,3 1 School of Education and Psychology, University of Navarra (Spain). 2 Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DATAI), University of Navarra (Spain). 3 Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra (Spain). Título: Estilos parentales materno y paterno en conjunto: validación de la forma simple de la Escala de Evaluación del Estilo Parental Resumen: La Escala para la Evaluación del Estilo Parental (EEEP) pregunta a los adolescentes sobre los estilos educativos de sus padres por separado (“tu padre” y “tu madre”) o de forma conjunta (“tus padres”), pero solo se ha evaluado la validez en la versión por separado. El objetivo de este traba- jo fue evaluar la validez de las inferencias de la versión conjunta. Se reclutó una muestra de 1507 adolescentes, de 12 a 18 años. Se realizaron análisis factoriales exploratorios y confirmatorios en dos submuestras independien- tes. Después se probó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para com- probar la asociación de las subescalas de la EEEP con desenlaces de los adolescentes (optimismo, pesimismo y resultados académicos). Los resulta- dos muestran buenas medidas de ajuste de la estructura del instrumento. Además, las subescalas mostraron asociación con los desenlaces. La EEEP puede ser usada con fiabilidad en su forma conjunta, resultando en una re- ducción de ítems, los cual es a menudo beneficioso para la investigación. Palabas clave: Validación. Estilos parentales. Modelo de ecuaciones es- tructurales. Adolescencia. Abstract: Oliva’s Escala para la Evaluación del Estilo Parental (EEEP) [Scale for the evaluation of parenting styles] asks adolescents about their parents’ edu- cation styles separately (“your father” and “your mother”) or in a com- bined way (“your parents”), but only the separated version has been tested for validity. The objective of this work was to carry out a validation of the combined version. A sample of 1507 adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years, was recruited. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were run in two independent subsamples. Then, structural equation models (SEM) were run in order to test the association between the EEEP’s subscales and ado- lescent outcomes (optimism, pessimism, and academic achievement). Re- sults showed a good fit of the instruments’ structure. Furthermore, the subscales showed associations with the outcomes. The EEEP can be relia- bly used in its combined form, which results in a reduction of items, often beneficial for research. Keywords: Scale validation. Parenting styles. Structural equation modeling. Adolescence. Introduction Parents serve as role models for their children, who learn be- liefs and behaviors from them (Álvarez et al., 2019; Varela et al., 2019). Relationships with parents are essential socioemo- tional (Collins & Steinberg, 2006) and moral assets (Mounts & Allen, 2019), even beyond childhood, and strongly influ- ence child development. Accordingly, it is important to de- velop relevant assessment instruments to improve young people’s development. In recent decades, there has increased interest in defining and measuring the dimensions of parent- ing style (Smetana, 2017). Conceptualizations of Parenting Styles The first investigations into parenting styles focused on samples of children (Baumrind, 1967; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). However, in the 21st century, interest in parent– adolescent relationships has increased. Obtaining infor- mation from children directly rather than their parents re- duces social desirability bias and increases objectivity (Gon- zales et al., 1996). The first studies in this area took a typo- logical approach to categorizing parenting styles (Baumrind, 1967; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). This approach classifies * Correspondence address [Dirección para correspondencia]: Edgar Benítez. Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DA- TAI), University of Navarra. Campus Universitario 31009. Pamplona (Es- paña). E-mail: ebenitezs@unav.es (Article received: 27-12-2019; revised: 14-04-2020; accepted: 20-08-2020) parenting styles in a generalized way, mainly in terms of the variables affection and control, which together compose the authoritative parenting style (Laursen & Collins, 2009; Stein- berg & Silk, 2002). Later, the dimensional approach was de- veloped to complement the typological approach (Steinberg & Silk, 2002). Studies subsequent to Baumrind indicated that the di- mensions of control and affection were not completely in- dependent, since parents’ degree of affection influences the external manifestation of control (Darling & Steinberg, 1993). There is abundant literature demonstrating the im- portance of parental warmth in adolescent adjustment, de- velopment, and social and emotional well-being (Collins & Laursen, 2004). Establishing which indicators support con- trol has been controversial. For example, some scales meas- uring control include parents’ knowledge of their children’s activities (Oliva et al., 2007). However, such knowledge may be the result either of parents’ efforts or of children’s self- disclosure, which in turn becomes an important variable to measure (Laird & Zeringue, 2019; Stattin & Kerr, 2000). Some authors distinguish behavioral control from psy- chological control, positioning the latter as clearly negative. “Psychological control” in this context refers to a parent’s attempts to control their child’s feelings, thoughts, or inter- ests (Schaefer, 1965). More specifically, it involves parental manipulation of and intrusion into children’s thoughts using methods such as constant criticism, guilt induction, or emo- tional blackmail (Mageau et al., 2015; Oliva et al., 2007). Be- havioral control, in contrast, has been associated with better outcomes among adolescent children (Darling, 1999).