Validation of the Parental Playfulness Questionnaire in a Russian sample: development of a unidimensional 8-item short form (PPQ-8) and its association with parental stress.

INTRODUCTION

Parental playfulness is increasingly recognized as a positive relational resource supporting child development and buffering parental stress. The Parental Playfulness Questionnaire (PPQ) is the only brief self-report instrument tailored to this construct; however, it has not undergone formal cross-cultural psychometric revalidation outside its original language and cultural context.

METHODS

The present study evaluated the Russian adaptation of the PPQ and its association with parental stress in a sample of 889 parents of children aged 2-7 years. Random split-half exploratory (n = 444) and confirmatory (n = 445) subsamples were used to test the factor structure of the instrument.

RESULTS

The original five-factor structure did not replicate: four of five subscales showed unacceptable reliability. A systematic method effect emerged, associated with content-reversed items and likely amplified by the cultural endorsement of involved parenting as a normative imperative. After removing reverse-scored items and items lacking cultural equivalence, an 8-item unidimensional short form (PPQ-8) demonstrated good model fit (CFI = 0.976, RMSEA = 0.066, SRMR = 0.054) and acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.784). The PPQ-8 was positively related to parental warmth and structure, and negatively to parental stress, supporting its external validity.

DISCUSSION: Considerable deviations between the final solution and the original five-factor structure suggest that the PPQ-8 may function more as a revised instrument than a mere abbreviation. The PPQ-8 offers an efficient measure of active parental playfulness and represents an important step toward a more comprehensive, culturally informed understanding of parent-child relationships.