Escala de Senso de Competência Parental (PSOC): Evidências de validade e precisão em contexto brasileiro

The sense of parental competence can be defined as the individual's expectations and beliefs about his / her ability to perform the parental role competently and effectively, thus encompassing characteristics such as perceived self-efficacy and parental satisfaction. This study aimed to gather evidence of validity and accuracy of the Sense of Parental Competence Scale (PSOC). A sample of 214 mothers aged 18-49 (M = 33.48, SD = 5.81), most heterosexual (96.2%) and married (70, 4%). Initially, the adequacy of the data matrix, whose results demonstrated KMO = 0.80 and the Bartlett's Sphericity Test was significant [c2 (120) = 664,238; p <0.001]. Observing the criteria of Kaiser, Cattell and Horn, it was indicated the possibility of extracting two factors. Therefore, a Principal Component Analysis (oblimin rotation) was performed with two fixed factors. The final solution, composed of 16 items, explained 33.77% of the total variance and presented Cronbach's alpha of 0.79. The first factor (Satisfaction) collected 9 items, explained 24.18% of the variance and presented Cronbach's alpha of 0.75; the second factor (Efficacy) was configured in 7 items, explained 9.54% and obtained alpha of 0.70. The instrument presented good psychometric parameters; however, further studies are recommended to confirm the structure found.   Keywords: Sense of parental competence; adaptation; validity; reliability.