Questionnaire for the Assessment of Coparenting (CECOP): Development and Validation

Abstract

Taking coparenting into consideration is essential when assessing children and their relational environment, regardless of the family structure. This paper presents three studies we conducted with the aim of developing and validating a reliable instrument for the assessment of coparenting in Spanish. The first study consisted of developing the items to be included in the assessment tool and evaluation of this content by a panel of nine experts. In the second study, we explored both the psychometric properties and the factorial structure of the prototype instrument using a sample of 251 participants. The third study confirmed the factorial structure and tested measurement invariance, the reliability, and convergent and discriminant evidence of our tool in a general population sample of 312 participants. We obtained a 15-item unidimensional questionnaire, the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Coparenting (CECOP), with very good psychometric properties: excellent internal consistency with α of 0.97 and supported validity with the selected conceptually related metrics; convergent validity with the Instrument for the Assessment of Adaptation to Divorce–Separation’s (CADS) coparenting dimension and Questionnaire on Perceived Support from the Former Partner (CARE); and divergent validity with parenting and dyadic adjustment. Furthermore, the results in terms of measurement invariance across family structures and sex allowed us to assume the configural invariance between the groups. However, it was not possible to assume metric invariance. Finally, we also provide normative scores for its interpretation. The CECOP shows excellent psychometric properties and can be considered the first questionnaire in Spanish that assesses coparenting in any family structure, which also includes the triadic conceptualization of coparenting, providing valuable information on the relational environment in which children and adolescence live.