ABSTRACT
Parenting behavior affects a child's development as well as the etiology and treatment of mental disorders. The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling & Brown, 1979) is a well-known measurement tool to retrospectively assess parenting styles. Yet, no sufficiently validated German version exists to date. Therefore, we developed an updated translation of the German PBI version (PBI-dt) and analyzed its psychometric properties in an online survey based on a sample of n=791 German-speaking participants with a focus on item and reliability characteristics, construct and criterion validity as well as factorial structure of the PBI-dt.Our results indicated good item characteristics and reliability (α=0.86-0.95). Correlations between PBI and CTQ-SF (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form) scales were in line with the literature. Significant differences in the reported parenting style were found between people with and without mental illness as well as between normal-weight and overweight people. These results indicated the presence of good construct and criterion validity. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated an acceptable model fit for all fit indices in the original 2-factor model of Parker et al. (1979) as well as in the 3-factor model with the scales CareCareCareCareCareCare, Discouragement of behavioral freedomDiscouragement of behavioral freedomDiscouragement of behavioral freedomDiscouragement of behavioral freedomDiscouragement of behavioral freedomDiscouragement of behavioral freedom and Denial of psychological autonomyDenial of psychological autonomyDenial of psychological autonomyDenial of psychological autonomyDenial of psychological autonomyDenial of psychological autonomy. A 3-factor structure provided additional information, e. g., a better differentiation between normal and overweight people. Hence, this German translation of the PBI has good psychometric properties and is a reliable measuring instrument.