Development and validation of the parents’ service satisfaction scale in the Finnish early childhood education and care context

Abstract The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale for assessing parents’ satisfaction with the early childhood education and care (ECEC) services provided to their one-year-old child, across both mothers and fathers. Additionally, we examine whether the child’s enjoyment in ECEC is related to parental service satisfaction (concurrent and discriminant validity). The data were collected in a survey conducted by the CHILDCARE project in 2016. Participants were Finnish parents ( N = 798) whose one-year-old attended ECEC at the time of the survey. Exploratory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. Two dimensions of service satisfaction were identified: ECEC access and location and educational preconditions and principles . It was found that the service satisfaction structure did not differ among mothers and fathers. Both service satisfaction dimensions were positively related to the child’s enjoyment in ECEC. In addition, it was determined that parental satisfaction with ECEC and child enjoyment in ECEC are separate concepts. The findings provided evidence that the service satisfaction structure appears to be relatively stable when the child is one year old and that parental assessment of the child’s enjoyment in ECEC is one of the factors associated with parental service satisfaction with ECEC.