Objectives This study aimed to develop the Family Empowerment Scale for Parents with Toddlers (FES-P) and to examine its validity and reliability.Methods A draft version of the scale was prepared based on a literature review and interviews with experts. Next, we conducted a web-based structured questionnaire survey of 800 parents (400 men and 400 women) with children aged 1 to 3 years, across Japan, and then verified the validity and reliability of the FES-P. The repeatability and stability by the retest method were examined as well.Results We analyzed the data of the 825 individuals (412 men and 413 women) who answered the survey. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the optimum solution that can interpret each factor could be obtained with five sub-factors and 26 question items. We confirmed that the five sub-factors were "relationships within the family," "sense of efficacy with regard to parenting," "relationships with the community," "sense of achievement as a parent," and "recognition and combined use of services." Good-fit values were obtained, with GFI=.878, AGFI=.852, CFI=.943, and RMSEA=.044, and construct validity was confirmed. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .96 for the entire scale and .85 to .92 for the sub-factors; the scale was deemed to have sufficient internal consistency. Further, the total score of the FES-P was positively correlated with the Family APGER score (r=.562, P<.001), scale measuring feelings about parenting (r=.620, P<.001), and generalized self-efficacy scale (r=.318, P<.001). For test-retest reliability, the intra-class correlation coefficient was r=.876 for the entire scale and r=.794 to .876 for the sub-factors, indicating stability and reproducibility.Conclusion This study developed the FES-P, consisting of five sub-factors and 26 items and showing good validity and reliability. The five sub-factors were cross-correlated constructs. "Sense of efficacy with regard to parenting" and "sense of achievement as a parent" consisted of items related to individual empowerment, "relationships within the family" and "relationships with the community" consisted of items related to relationships with others, and "recognition and combined use of services" consisted of items related to social resources.
Keywords: empowerment; family; parenting; parents; scale development.