Validation of a short form of the perceptions of interparental conflict in childhood

Exposure to interparental conflict (IC) in childhood has been documented to be an important risk factor for parents' wellbeing and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. However, there is no French instrument available for measuring the childhood exposure to IC in parents. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of a short form of the Perceptions of Interparental Conflict questionnaire (PIC-SF), which assesses memories of interparental conflict that occurred in the parents' own childhood. Data were collected between August 2021 and February 2023, and participants had a mean age of 39.2 years old (<i>SD</i> = 5.4). Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted among a representative sample of 610 parents of a toddler in the province of Québec (Canada), which was split into two subsamples (<i>n</i> = 305). Results indicate that the PIC-SF demonstrates strong internal consistency supported by Cronbach's alpha (<i>α</i> = 0.95) and McDonald's omega (<i>ω</i> = 0.95). Additionally, a unifactorial structure was supported, accounting for 74% of the variance. Correlation analyses indicated that memories of exposure to IC in childhood were related to childhood interpersonal trauma, increased psychological distress, self-capacity alterations, and destructive conflict management strategies. Researchers and practitioners have access to a promising measure of memories of exposure to IC in childhood that could be used, free of fees, to document past family experiences and inform well-tailored services.