Perceived parental efficacy: concept analysis

N U R SI N G T H E O R Y A N D C O N C E PT D E V E L O P M E N T O R A N A L Y SI S

Perceived parental efficacy: concept analysis Francine de Montigny

BN MSc PhD

Director of Nursing, Nursing Department, University of Que´bec in Outaouais, Gatineau, Que´bec, Canada

Carl Lacharite´

PhD

Research Director, Research Group in Child and Family Development, Psychology Department, University of Que´bec in TroisRivie`res, Que´bec, Canada

Accepted for publication 5 April 2004

Correspondence: Francine de Montigny, Nursing Department, University of Que´bec in Outaouais, C.P. 1250, succ. Hull., Gatineau, Que´bec, Canada J8X 3X7. E-mail: [email protected]

D E M O N T I G N Y F . & L A C H A R I T E´ C . ( 2 0 0 5 )

Journal of Advanced Nursing 49(4), 387–396 Perceived parental efficacy: concept analysis Aims. This paper describes a concept analysis carried out to remove some of the ambiguity surrounding the conceptual meaning of perceived parental efficacy and to distinguish it from related concepts such as parental confidence and parental competence. Background. Constructing parental efficacy is a crucial step for family members after the birth of their first child. For some authors, perceived parental efficacy is a motor for adequate parental practices. Confusion about the definition and measurement of this concept has hindered both psychology and nursing practice and research. Concept delineation and concept clarification are required in order to further the development of the concept of perceived parental efficacy. Methods. A literature search using a variety of online databases yielded 113 articles between the years 1980 and 2000. The final sample (n ¼ 60) consisted of 30 articles from two disciplines: nursing and psychology. A content analysis of the literature was done using Rodger’s evolutionary concept analysis method. Findings. Content analysis of the literature yielded four contributors to perceived parental efficacy: positive enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and an appropriate physiological and affective state. Perceived parental efficacy can thus be defined as ‘beliefs or judgements a parent holds of their capabilities to organize and execute a set of tasks related to parenting a child’. Conclusion. This conceptual analysis has allowed perceived parental efficacy to be distinguished from parental confidence and parental competence. Both nursing and psychology research, practice and education will benefit from a more precise and delineated concept. Keywords: parental efficacy, parental competence, perceptions, postpartum, concept analysis, nursing, parental confidence, Bandura, Rodgers

Introduction Concepts are tools developed to help organize reality (Morse 1995). Reality shapes concepts, and concepts shape reality. Concepts can be seen as the foundations of research, being units ‘that determine the questions that one asks and the
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answers that one gets’ (Sartori 1984, p. 9). Methodological rigor and the usefulness of research results depend on the relevance of the concept under study. Concept development and clarification are processes that allow us to gain comprehension of a concept (Kim 1983), which seems a priority for all social sciences. In this paper, we intend to clarify and 387

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delineate perceived parental efficacy in relation to its related concepts and to demonstrate the implications of this process for education, practice and research.

Background In the late 1970s Bandura introduced the concept of selfefficacy. Since then, perceived parental efficacy, a derivative of self-efficacy, has been used in social sciences research. Bandura (1997) has noted that efficacy beliefs are a major base for parental practices. Constructing perceived parental efficacy after the first child’s birth is thought to be a crucial step in the family development (de Montigny 2002). Broome (1993) has, however, remarked that what is named perceived parental efficacy in psychology is called ‘parental confidence’ in nursing and does not exist in medicine. Moreover, a research instrument devised to measure parental sense of competence (PSOC, Gibaud-Wallston 1977) has been used to measure parental competence, parental selfefficacy and parental self-esteem (Hanson et al. 1988, Johnston & Mash 1989, Mercer & Ferketich 1990, Mercer et al. 1993), thus leading to difficulties in using and comparing research results. This inconsistency between definitions of the concept and its use in research strongly suggests that either the concept was not as mature as it seemed or there was confusion between two or more concepts. Based on the indicators defined by Morse et al. (1996), we identified concept delineation and concept clarification as the types of concept analysis required for this concept. Morse et al. (1996) recommend that concept delineation be done when ‘two or more concepts appear uniformly linked together, as if they were part of the same experience’ (p. 270), which seemed to be the case with ‘perceived parental efficacy’, ‘parental confidence’ and ‘perceived parental competence’. Concept clarification is required when ‘the concept appears mature, and there is a large body of literature that includes definitions and rich descriptions, such as clinical exemplars and quantitative instruments, but the concept is measured using various variables and is applied in different ways in research’ (Morse et al. 1996, p. 270).

The concept analysis Aim Although all we cannot claim to know all the meanings of a concept, drawing a clearer and more accurate portrait enables us to make order out of what is observed (Becker 1983). In that sense, Rodgers’ definition of the aim of concept analysis as a means to reflect what a concept actually means, 388

while considering the contextual and temporal aspects in which concepts evolve is useful (Rodgers 1989, Rodgers & Knafl 2000). In this analysis, we aim to: • distinguish perceived parental efficacy from parental confidence and parental competence; • clarify perceived parental efficacy by identifying its attributes, antecedents and consequences; • explore changes that have occurred in the concept over time; • explore areas of agreement and disagreement across the nursing and psychology disciplines.

Methodology Different methods have been used for concept analysis in nursing. Wilson (1963) first defined an approach that proved to be helpful in teaching concept analysis. Walker and Avant (1995), as well as Chinn and Jacobs (1987), have based their methods of concept analysis on that of Wilson. These methods are characterized by step-by-step techniques which, depending on the author, include variations such as the following three examples: a literature review (SchwartzBarcott & Kim 1993, Rodgers & Knafl 1993, 2000); cases developed from actual nursing situations (Schwartz-Barcott & Kim 1993); and an evolutionary point of view (Rodgers & Knafl 1993, 2000). Qualitative methods of concept analysis have also been used, in which textual and observational data are organized in categories in order to identify conceptual boundaries (Morse et al. 1996). Critical analysis of the literature has been preferred as a sole method of concept analysis when a large body of literature about the concept has been developed and the concept appears partially mature. Finally, quantitative methods are favoured when the concept is relatively mature and well-defined, and consist of instrument development and validation, for example. Based on our study’ aims and the concept’s level of maturity, an integrative literature review was clearly the preferred method. Considering that Morse et al. (1996) have criticized the lack of methodological guidelines that have often prevailed with such a technique, we chose to use key themes identified by Rodgers and Knafl (2000) as part of our matrix for this content analysis. The following questions were identified to guide the literature review, in order to delimit the search and facilitate identification of keywords: How is perceived parental efficacy manifested (attributes, consequences) and under what conditions (antecedents)? Is perceived parental efficacy different from parental competence and parental confidence?


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According to Rodgers (1993) and Morse et al. (1996), methodology is rarely rendered explicit by authors who engage in a literature review. In this particular case, both French and English literature originating from published articles was included in the review. The vast amount of written material in the popular literature and in unpublished dissertations led us to concentrate on published material which has been validated by peer review.

Collecting and managing the data Psychology and nursing viewpoints were compared, as these two disciplines have a substantial research history of using the chosen concepts. The period 1980–2000 was chosen for study because it takes into account recent parenting role transformations. It is also a period in which a large amount of material about this dimension of human development was published. Thus, 59 psychology and 54 nursing articles were identified, from three online computer databases (PSYCHLIT , CINAHL and PSYCHFIRST ) on the basis that the words parental/ maternal/paternal self-efficacy, parental/maternal/paternal competence or parental/maternal/paternal confidence were found in the title, abstract or keywords. Fifty-three articles were rejected because closer scrutiny revealed that these subjects were not discussed or that the references were dissertations. Thirty articles from each discipline were consulted for data analysis, as suggested by Rodgers and Knafl (2000).

Data analysis The articles were first organized chronologically and by discipline to gain an historical perspective of the concept’s evolution (Rodgers & Knafl 1993, 2000). When the article was published in an interdisciplinary journal, it was classified according to the discipline of the primary author. As suggested by Rodgers and Knafl (2000, p. 107), ‘analysis was carried out in a thematic manner similar to content analysis’. To annotate the literature, we looked at specific themes: the concept’s definitions and attributes, antecedents, consequences, related concepts and/or surrogate terms, and the research goal, methodology, instruments and results.

Findings The literature search did not reveal as many articles in the earlier decade (1980–1990: 10 articles were selected in nursing and 12 in psychology) as in the latter (1991–2000: 20 articles in nursing and 18 in psychology). Articles were regrouped according to the concept under study. Thus, it was

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noted that throughout the 20-year period nursing authors coined a variety of different terms bearing some similarities to perceived parental efficacy, including: • perceptions of problem-solving confidence (Bullock & Pridham 1988); • perceptions of competence for infant feeding care (Rutledge & Pridham 1987); • paternal/maternal competence (Jones & Lenz 1986, Watters & Kristiansen 1995, Knauth 2000); • maternal role competence (Flager 1988); • parents’ sense of competence (Mercer & Ferketich 1990, 1994, Mercer et al. 1993, Ferketich & Mercer 1994); • mothers’ perceptions of competence (Le´onard & Paul 1996, Fowles 1998); • satisfaction with being a parent and infant capability (Pridham et al. 1991); • perceived role attainment (Walker & Montgomery 1994), maternal confidence (Gross et al. 1989, Conrad et al. 1992, Hall et al. 1997). In this sample, perceived parental efficacy did not appear in the nursing vocabulary before the end of the 1980s, and even after that its usage remained restricted (10 articles out of 30, Hanson et al. 1988, Froman & Owen 1989, 1990, Gross et al. 1989, 1995, Reece 1992, Gross & Tucker 1994, Leonard et al. 1998, Reece & Harkless 1998, Tucker et al. 1998), authors favouring the usage of parental competence (10 articles out of 30) and parental confidence (eight out of 30). Some authors used two or more terms interchangeably (Gross et al. 1989) or defined one in terms of the other (Froman & Owen 1990, Mercer & Ferketich 1990, 1994, Ferketich & Mercer 1994). Finally, one author did not define the concept (Fowles 1998). Psychological articles were not purist, despite opinions to the contrary (Broome 1993), and also used different terms: • perceptions of competence in managing parenting tasks (Ballenski & Cook 1982); • parental confidence (Williams et al. 1987, Hanson et al. 1988, Ruble et al. 1990, Banyard & Graham-Bermann 1995); • self-confidence (Deutsch et al. 1988); • sense of confidence (Wolfson et al. 1992); • parental efficacy (Swick & Hassell 1990, Levy-Shiff et al. 1998); • being a competent parent (Masse´ 1991); • perceived parental competence (Wandersman et al. 1980, Tessier et al. 1992, Sabatelli & Waldron 1995, Miron 1998a, b); • mothers’ parental competence (Hanson et al. 1988). Just as in the nursing articles, we found psychological articles with undefined terms (Williams et al. 1987, Deutsch


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et al. 1988, Ruble et al. 1990, Banyard & Graham-Bermann 1995) and articles which defined one concept in terms of the other (Johnston & Mash 1989, Mash & Johnston 1990, MacPhee et al. 1996, Teti et al. 1996, Halpern & McLean 1997, Swick & Broadway 1997) or used two or more concepts interchangeably (Cutrona & Troutman 1986, Williams et al. 1987, Wolfson et al. 1992, MacPhee et al. 1996). ‘Perceived parental efficacy’ was used just as frequently in psychological articles as in nursing articles (11 out of 30, Cutrona & Troutman 1986, Donovan & Leavitt 1989, Johnston & Mash 1989, Donovan et al. 1990, Mash & Johnston 1990, Teti & Gelfand 1991, MacPhee et al. 1996, Teti et al. 1996, Bandura 1997, Coleman & Karraker 1997, Halpern & McLean 1997).

Uses of the concept, existing definitions and attributes Although perceived parental efficacy became more widely studied in the late 1980s and the 1990s, its prevalence did not prevent the usage of other similar concepts such as ‘perceived parental competence’ and ‘parental confidence’. This myriad of names made us wonder if these articles were in fact dealing with different parental experience or were rather a reflection of the evolution of a concept. This evolution being non-linear (Rodgers 1993), we considered that we might be witnessing back-and-forth moves between ways to name evidence. In order to clarify this point, articles were grouped together according to the concept’s definition. We wanted to find the consistently occurring characteristics of the concept perceived parental efficacy that helped distinguish it from others. For this purpose, ‘all statements that provided a clue on how the author(s) defined the concept’ (Rodgers 1993, p. 83) were retained in order to identify how the concept was used in the particular areas under study. These definitions were then compared with the definition of the parent concept of perceived parental efficacy – ‘selfefficacy’ – which Bandura identified in the late 1970s as a component of social cognitive theory (Bandura 1977). We chose the parent concept because Bandura (1997) has recognized the existence of perceived parental efficacy and some of its consequences but has not specified its attributes. Bandura (1997, p. 3) defines perceived self-efficacy as ‘beliefs one holds in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of actions required to produce given attainments’. Our understanding of Bandura’s work on self-efficacy led us to select the following attributes of perceived self-efficacy: • personal beliefs, • capabilities, power, • organize and execute actions which produce results, • are situation-specific. 390

The 60 articles were then reviewed to investigate the presence of such attributes in the concepts’ definitions, and the particularities of perceived parental efficacy. The definitions in 12 psychology articles and 15 nursing articles met three or more of the attributes, which appear to be specific to parents’ experience of ‘perceived parental efficacy’: • parents’ beliefs/judgement – refers to judgements held by the parent and strength of that judgement (Bandura 1997, p. 37). • capabilities – refers to what ‘one can do under a different set of conditions with whatever skills one possesses’ (Bandura 1997, p. 37). • actions which are organized and executed to produce a set of tasks – means ‘being able to integrate subskills into appropriate courses of actions and to execute them well under difficult circumstances’ (Bandura 1997, p. 37). • situation-specific tasks related to parenting a child – refers to situation-specific tasks which are related to parenting, be they instrumental tasks such as feeding, or affective tasks, such as comforting. Perceived parental efficacy can thus be defined as ‘beliefs or judgements a parent holds of their capabilities to organize and execute a set of tasks related to parenting a child’.

Related concepts/surrogate terms We then aimed to identify concepts that were related, in the sense that they bore some relationship to the concept of interest but did not seem to share the same set of attributes (Rodgers 1993, p. 83). In that sense, ‘parental confidence’ – also named ‘sense of confidence’ or ‘self-confidence’ – could be identified as a related concept that is different from, although related to, perceived parental efficacy. Bandura (1997) had addressed this ambivalence between the two concepts, specifying that confidence was a different construct from self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1997, p. 382), ‘Confidence is a non-descript term that refers to strength of belief but does not necessarily specify what the certainty is about’. A self-efficacy assessment includes both ‘affirmation of capability and strength of that belief’ (p. 382), whereas a self-confidence assessment affirms solely certainty or uncertainty about success. Glidewell and Livert (1992) also distinguish the two constructs by defining confidence as a stable state of certainty that is not situation-dependent or -specific. On the other hand, perceived self-efficacy is situation-specific, varying according to the task involved and the context, and is not a global personality trait (Strecher et al. 1986). Out of 10 articles that used confidence as a variable of study, only two authors in each discipline (Williams et al. 1987, Gross et al. 1989, Conrad et al. 1992, Wolfson et al.


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1992) had either defined the concept using the attributes of perceived parental efficacy or used it interchangeably with perceived parental efficacy. Furthermore, Wolfson et al. (1992) used instrument measures based on Bandura’s work. This seems to refute the belief that only nursing scholars were in the habit of using those two concepts interchangeably to define the same reality (Broome 1993, Grundy 1993). This led us to believe, prior to this analysis, that confusion existed between these two concepts, and that this led researchers to believe that one meant the same as the other. Parental self-esteem is another concept that is often associated with parental self-efficacy but proves to be different, in the sense that self-esteem is a ‘judgement of self-worth’ (Bandura 1997, p. 110) while perceived self-efficacy is a ‘judgement of personal capability’ (Bandura 1997, p. 11). Perceived parental competence and perceived parental efficacy have been intertwined in several studies. Distinguishing their differences and similarities proved a challenge. The Cassell dictionary (1997, p. 95) underlined that competence was a noun borrowed from the French language and can have several meanings. It can have legal meaning and, as such, when it implies ‘the capacity to testify in a court of law’, is clearly different from perceived self-efficacy. However, competence can also refer to ‘the ability to do something successfully or efficiently’ (Pearsall & Hanks 1998, p. 374). Perceived parental competence refers to ‘judgment that others hold about the parent’s abilities to do something’. Thus, it is different from perceived parental efficacy, which is the parent’s own judgement. Analysing the articles that had specifically referred to this concept in order to understand better its characteristics allowed us to formulate two hypotheses. First, perceived parental competence is an embryonic concept of perceived parental efficacy, and is a precursor of this more evolved concept that will subsequently be abandoned in future studies. Secondly, perceived parental competence can be seen as referring to ‘perceptions that the parent possesses the skills needed to care for their child’. In that sense, Bandura (1997) has written that there is ‘a marked difference between possessing subskills and being able to integrate them into appropriate courses of action’ (p. 37). Perceived self-efficacy is concerned with what one believes one can do with what one is under a variety of circumstances and is not concerned with the number of skills one possesses (Bandura 1997, p. 37), while perceived parental competence would be.

Antecedents of parental self-efficacy Research results of 27 studies where ‘perceived parental efficacy’ met the attributes defined in this text and Bandura’s

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work on self-efficacy beliefs were essential elements in defining events, situations and phenomena that preceded this concept’s occurrence. Bandura has illustrated what allows an individual to construct self-efficacy beliefs and has identified four main sources of information: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective state. These sources of information act on individuals throughout their lifetime, contributing to building self-efficacy beliefs. Enactive mastery experiences are an individual’s most significant source of information with regard to their capabilities and limits. Although successes contribute to build firm beliefs in one’s personal efficacy, failures will sap it, especially if they occur before one has established a strong sense of efficacy (Bandura 1997, p. 80). Gross et al. (1989) have found that mothers’ childcare experiences prior to becoming a mother was the strongest predictor of maternal self-efficacy for mothers of toddlers. Froman and Owen (1990) confirmed this in their study in which mothers who had cared for infants previously had stronger efficacy perceptions. Similarly, Froman and Owen (1989) found that mothers’ efficacy expectations were higher for the infant care tasks most frequently performed. Vicarious experiences offer the individual a reference point to judge their capacities to master a given situation. Such experiences allow transmission of competencies and comparison with the attainments of others (Bandura 1997, p. 79) by observation and modelling. Thus, parent-training programmes have been found to influence parents’ perceptions of efficacy (Wolfson et al. 1992, Gross et al. 1995, Tucker et al. 1998). Self-efficacy beliefs can be reinforced through verbal persuasion. Bandura (1997) comments that maintaining self-efficacy beliefs is easier for an individual when their significant others believe in their capacities and say so. Research results point in the same direction; for example, quality of marital relationship (Teti & Gelfand 1991, Reece 1993, Reece & Harkless 1998) and quality of social support (Cutrona & Troutman 1986, Reece 1993) have both been found to enhance maternal perceptions of parenting efficacy postpartum. Fluctuations in physiological and affective state can be interpreted as signs of vulnerability or even, plain inefficacy (Bandura 1997), and mothers who feel stressed also report feeling less efficacious (Reece & Harkless 1998). Children’s characteristics have been found to impact on parental feelings of efficacy (Teti et al. 1996). Several sources have provided evidence of the effect of infant temperament on mothers’ perceptions of efficacy, such that mothers who perceive their child as more difficult have low perceptions of


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their own efficacy (Cutrona & Troutman 1986, Teti & Gelfand 1991, Halpern & McLean 1997). This phenomenon has also been noted with fathers by Johnston and Mash (1989), who report that fathers’ perceptions of child behavioural problems were related to paternal feelings of inefficacy. Infant temperament can act to reinforce parental beliefs in their abilities or inability. Difficult infants can also tax parents’ physiological well-being.

Consequences of parental self-efficacy Several studies of perceived parental efficacy have added to Bandura’s important contribution on the consequences of self-efficacy beliefs. A brief overview is presented here. Self-efficacy beliefs influence what an individual chooses to do, the efforts that will be invested in specific activities, and the period of time over which efforts will be maintained despite obstacles and failures (Strecher et al. 1986). Resilience to adversity, how much stress and depression are experienced in coping with environmental demands, and the level of accomplishment felt are all consequences of self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura 1997). Low levels of efficacy are proposed to result in poor persistence, depression and self-blaming attributions (Bandura 1982). Swick and Hassell (1990) consider perceived parental efficacy to have a powerful influence on children’s formation of social competence, and Bandura (1997) has noted that efficacy beliefs are a major base for parental practices. These statements find resonance in research results. Teti and Gelfand (1991), for example, found that self-efficacy beliefs predicted parental behaviours in such a way that mothers with high-perceived efficacy had more adequate parental practices. MacPhee et al. (1996) obtained similar results from a large study with 500 low-income parents of different ethnic backgrounds. In their study, perceived parental efficacy strongly related to child-rearing practices across all ethnic groups. Several authors have noted how maternal efficacy beliefs operate as a mediator between various psychosocial variables and maternal competence (Coleman & Karraker 1997, p. 60). Maternal efficacy beliefs have been found to mediate the effects of depression, social support and infant temperament on parenting behaviours (Teti & Gelfand 1991). Such beliefs also mediate the effects of infant temperament and social support on depression (Cutrona & Troutman 1986). Mothers who have high parental efficacy beliefs experience less psychological distress than do those with low efficacy beliefs (Halpern & McLean 1997). Mothers with higher selfefficacy postpartum are less likely to feel depressed 3 months later (Cutrona & Troutman 1986). 392

Overall, the research results provide evidence that diverse psychosocial variables can indirectly impair parental functioning by undermining perceptions of efficacy (de Montigny 2002). This is an incentive for further research efforts, a teaching asset and a point of entry for practical interventions which will be discussed below.

Evolution of parental self-efficacy research’s focus over time (1980–2000) As stated previously, prior to 1986 only a few articles on the subject of ‘perceived self-efficacy’ could be found. As remarked by Froman and Owen (1990, p. 248), before Bandura’s work ‘measures of confidence covered broad classes of behaviours without specific behavioural referents’. The overall literature reveals that a limited number of authors have studied this area, refining their concepts and instruments over time. In the years 1980–1990, mothers were the sole subject of investigation for all studies except one in nursing (Jones & Lenz 1986) and two in psychology (Wandersman et al. 1980, Johnston & Mash 1989), although discussions mentioned that fathers should also be investigated (Ballenski & Cook 1982). Initially, both psychology and nursing disciplines seemed to be concerned about the postpartum and infancy stages of parenthood in normal primiparous women, eventually looking at preterm and high-risk mothers and fathers. In the latter years (1991–2000), nursing authors broadened their interests, focusing on perceived parental efficacy in parents of toddlers and, in recent years, in mothers of school-age children with asthma or diabetes. Psychology articles were even more varied, touching on the experience of single mothers with diabetic children, parents of hyperactive or abused children, depressed mothers and low-income parents of various ethnic backgrounds. We also found that, during those years, research studies were aimed at finding predictors such as age, sex and experience. The more recent the study (1990 and later), the wider the spectrum of predictors investigated. Studies have been mostly of a correlational nature, however, and causal relationships have still to be investigated (Coleman & Karraker 1997).

Conclusions Implications for research Although the domain of perceived parenting efficacy appeared at first glance to have been widely researched,


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closer examination revealed that appropriate investigation of this concept is relatively recent, and not extensive. Existing studies have underlined the importance of this construct for personal, marital and family well-being. Examining research results allows us to identify specific areas that nursing and psychology scholars should focus on in their work. First of all, fathers have been underinvestigated. In a context in which gender (being a mother) has been found to be an important predictor of parenting efficacy beliefs (Reece & Harkless 1998), we need to know what are the predictors of fathers’ perceptions of parenting efficacy. Research into the origin and intergenerational transmission of beliefs (Mash & Johnston 1990) is also needed in order to understand the gender difference that has been observed. If perceptions of maternal efficacy can be identified as such an important mediator of maternal stress and depression, we can appropriately inquire: what about fathers? Perceptions of parental efficacy show complex, multidirectional relationships with multiple variables; as a result, the research focus should adopt a systemic viewpoint and take into account personal, relational and contextual factors. Mash and Johnston (1990, p. 323) suggest that the ‘match or mismatch among the beliefs of different family members’ might have a greater influence on the level of stress a family experiences than individual beliefs. More information is needed on the relationships between perceptions of parenting efficacy and variables such as: quality of previous childcare experience (Reece & Harkless 1998), personality factors, cultural influences, types and quality of social support, role of professional support (Teti et al. 1996) and specific parenting interventions (Coleman & Karraker 1997). Finally, addressing research limitations, we must mention the various instruments that have been used to measure perceptions of parenting efficacy. Previous authors (Sabatelli & Waldron 1995, Coleman & Karraker 1997) have stated that few valid and conceptually sound parenting questionnaires are available. Some studies have used instruments which are not even intended to investigate perceptions of parental efficacy. For example, PSOC – a measure of parenting sense of competence – has a subscale of seven items to measure self-efficacy, but some studies of perceived parental efficacy have nevertheless been done with the whole measure (Hanson et al. 1988, Tessier et al. 1992). Most of the instruments available have a limited number of items (Gibaud-Wallston 1977, Campis et al. 1986, Wells-Parker et al. 1990, Teti & Gelfand 1991), which often tap general facets of the parenting domain, and thus do not correspond to Bandura’s (1997) criteria for a measure of parenting efficacy

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beliefs. He suggests that efficacy beliefs should be measured with ‘items portraying different levels of task demands’, phrased in terms of ‘can do’ and in such a way that individuals rate ‘the strength of their belief in their ability to execute the activity’ (p. 43). The Parenting Efficacy Scale (PES) has 25 items that meet these requirements (Reece 1992).

Implications for teaching and practice Findings of the importance of perceptions of parenting efficacy in actual competence in the parenting role are important for clinicians and teachers because it is possible to influence these beliefs by acting on the sources of information for self-efficacy identified by Bandura (1997). Although several professionals interact with parents at different stages of the parenting cycle, nurses are in a particularly good position to assess parents’ perceptions of efficacy because they come in contact with them as early as the prenatal period. Knowledge of the attributes of ‘perceptions of parenting efficacy’ will enable teachers to transmit knowledge and skills to students concerning how to assess parents’ efficacy beliefs. Particular attention should be paid to exploring the perceptions of both parents, as one is not a reflection of the other. Comparing both parents’ perceptions, and asking each their opinion of the other’s strength as an individual and a parent, can allow parents to gain insight into each others’ perceptions of efficacy. There is a need to develop ways to enhance or challenge parental beliefs by specific interventions, such as providing anticipatory guidance (Leonard et al. 1998), offering training programmes on infant sleeping patterns (Wolfson et al. 1992) or on parent–child relationships (Gross et al. 1995); offering opportunities to model, role play and practise skills in different settings (Coleman & Karraker 1997); supporting and confirming existing parenting skills (Ballenski & Cook 1982); and facilitating the development of parent support groups for the older first-time mothers (Reece 1993). Miron (1998a) has proposed an original form of parental intervention: reflexive intervention. This allows parents space to consider parental problems, reflect on them, experiment and evaluate courses of action, in order to pursue or modify their parenting behaviours. As Coleman and Karraker (1997) have underlined, focusing solely on knowledge and skills acquisition might not be sufficient. Wright et al. (1996) invite professionals to create for parents a context in which changes can occur by offering questions, ideas and opinions, but mostly by establishing a collaborative relationship.


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What is already known about this topic • Constructing perceived parental efficacy after the first child’s birth is thought to be a crucial step in the family development. • Perceived parental efficacy, parental competence and parental confidence have been thought of as different terms to describe the same phenomena. • Confusion about definitions of perceived parental efficacy, parental competence and parental confidence has existed, as well as problems with measuring these concepts, making interpretation of research results difficult.

What this paper adds • Appropriate investigation in both nursing and psychology of perceived parental efficacy is relatively recent and not extensive. • The concept of ‘perceived parental efficacy’ is defined as ‘beliefs or judgements a parent holds of their capabilities to organize and execute a set of tasks related to parenting a child’. • A clear and delineated concept will allow researchers to develop specific areas of research, such as studies with fathers and developing valid instruments.

Acknowledgement The author would like to acknowledge the fellowship received from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Author contributions Study conception and design/Data analysis – FD, CL; Data collection/Drafting of manuscript/Obtaining funding/Admin – FD; Critical revisions/Supervision – CL.

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