Development and Initial Validation of the Parenting Styles Circumplex Inventory (PSCI).

This article focuses on the development and initial validation of the Parenting Styles Circumplex Inventory (PSCI), a 32-item measure grounded in Contemporary Integrative Interpersonal Theory (CIIT) that integrates typological and dimensional approaches to assessing parenting styles. The PSCI captures eight distinct octants representing unique combinations of parental responsiveness (warmth) and demandingness (control), encompassing all four major parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Across three studies with emerging adult college samples, the PSCI demonstrated a quasi-circumplex structure and meaningful associations with interpersonal values, parenting practices, relationship quality, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and substance use, supporting its validity. The PSCI addresses limitations of prior parenting style measures by providing comprehensive coverage of parenting behaviors without relying on median splits and by linking parenting styles to a broader interpersonal framework. Future research is recommended to validate the PSCI in diverse populations, cultures, and developmental stages, and to examine its relation to momentary parenting behaviors and established parenting style measures.