Constructing and validating a new children’s perception of interparental conflict scale in mainland China: adding the family cohesion dimension

Marital conflict between parents impacts adolescent adjustment and the development of peer relationships. Surveys of the effects of marital conflict in China have been largely limited to a unidimensional approach. To examine the effects of family cohesion, an overlooked but important element in composing the family environment, this study translated the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict (CPIC) scale and combined it with the Family Adaptation and Cohesion Scale II (FACESII) scale. A new dimension - family cohesion was added to develop a revised instrument that is more comprehensive and appropriate to the Chinese setting. A sample of 336 students has been used to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis. The new model containing the family cohesion dimension fits well with the effects on adolescents’ perceptions. For convergence validity, all items in the family cohesion dimension had significant factor loadings, and a high degree of internal consistency was observed. This new dimension also showed good discriminant validity compared to all other dimensions. By incorporating the family cohesion dimension and culturally adapting it for adolescents, this paper enhances the CPIC scale and provides a more accurate and locally relevant tool for assessing family functioning within contemporary Chinese families.