The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth

Parental support and acceptance are strong protective factors for better mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse youth. Psychological inflexibility, specifically in the role of parenting, or “parenting inflexibility”, refers to an over-reliance on avoidance strategies at the expe...

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Main Authors: Haley R. Hedrick, Stephanie V. Caldas, Danielle N. Moyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Behavioral Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/5/625
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author Haley R. Hedrick
Stephanie V. Caldas
Danielle N. Moyer
author_facet Haley R. Hedrick
Stephanie V. Caldas
Danielle N. Moyer
author_sort Haley R. Hedrick
collection DOAJ
description Parental support and acceptance are strong protective factors for better mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse youth. Psychological inflexibility, specifically in the role of parenting, or “parenting inflexibility”, refers to an over-reliance on avoidance strategies at the expense of parenting values. Parenting inflexibility may be related to parental support, making it a useful target of intervention for parents of transgender youth. The aim of the present study was to develop a brief clinically useful measure of parenting inflexibility based on a synthesis of existing measures and to evaluate the psychometric properties across two study populations. Study 1 used exploratory factor analysis to examine this measure among parents in the general population recruited using MTurk. Study 2 used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the measure among parents of transgender youth recruited from a clinic. The final measure, the Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA) scale, is a one-factor 7-item measure of parenting inflexibility that is easy to administer and interpret in a pediatric health setting. The resulting measure demonstrated acceptable reliability, and it was significantly correlated with important outcome variables, such as negative parenting practices and lower perceived parental support among transgender and gender diverse youth.
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spelling doaj-art-a9d403e25d114846ab032fdc9dc4b80b2025-08-20T02:33:30ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-05-0115562510.3390/bs15050625The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender YouthHaley R. Hedrick0Stephanie V. Caldas1Danielle N. Moyer2Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, 707 SW Gaines Street, Portland, OR 97239, USADepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hassenfelds Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, New York, NY 10016, USADepartment of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University, 707 SW Gaines Street, Portland, OR 97239, USAParental support and acceptance are strong protective factors for better mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse youth. Psychological inflexibility, specifically in the role of parenting, or “parenting inflexibility”, refers to an over-reliance on avoidance strategies at the expense of parenting values. Parenting inflexibility may be related to parental support, making it a useful target of intervention for parents of transgender youth. The aim of the present study was to develop a brief clinically useful measure of parenting inflexibility based on a synthesis of existing measures and to evaluate the psychometric properties across two study populations. Study 1 used exploratory factor analysis to examine this measure among parents in the general population recruited using MTurk. Study 2 used confirmatory factor analysis to examine the measure among parents of transgender youth recruited from a clinic. The final measure, the Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA) scale, is a one-factor 7-item measure of parenting inflexibility that is easy to administer and interpret in a pediatric health setting. The resulting measure demonstrated acceptable reliability, and it was significantly correlated with important outcome variables, such as negative parenting practices and lower perceived parental support among transgender and gender diverse youth.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/5/625psychological flexibilityparentingavoidanceparentsyouthtransgender
spellingShingle Haley R. Hedrick
Stephanie V. Caldas
Danielle N. Moyer
The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
Behavioral Sciences
psychological flexibility
parenting
avoidance
parents
youth
transgender
title The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
title_full The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
title_fullStr The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
title_short The Impact of Parenting Avoidance (IPA): Scale Development and Psychometric Evaluation Among Parents of Transgender Youth
title_sort impact of parenting avoidance ipa scale development and psychometric evaluation among parents of transgender youth
topic psychological flexibility
parenting
avoidance
parents
youth
transgender
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/5/625
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