Translation and cross cultural adaptation of the Persian Parental Care and Tenderness Scale with psychometric evaluation using factor and network analyses

Abstract Background The Parental Care and Tenderness Scale (PCAT) assesses individual differences in activation of the parental care motivational system, but its psychometric properties have not been evaluated in Persian-speaking populations. This study adapted the PCAT into Persian and examined its structural validity, reliability, construct validity, and network organization among Iranian adults. Methods A two-phase cross-sectional psychometric study was conducted. Phase 1 included forward translation, face validity, expert content evaluation, backward-translation, and reconciliation with the original instrument. In Phase 2, 437 adults were randomly divided into exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 218) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 219) subsamples. Reliability, exploratory graph analysis (EGA), and network analyses were conducted in the full sample, while convergent and divergent validity were examined in 149 participants with complete external-measure data. Results Content validity was acceptable. Parallel analysis supported five factors, and the five-factor EFA solution explained 53.33% of the variance (KMO = .790; Bartlett’s χ²(300) = 3133.67, p < .001). The correlated five-factor CFA model outperformed alternative models, although global fit was suboptimal (CFI = .775, TLI = .746, RMSEA = .101, SRMR = .082). The total PCAT showed good internal consistency (α = .858; ordinal α = .898; ω = .901). EGA identified five dimensions, while network centrality showed stability. Parents and women reported higher PCAT scores than nonparents and men, respectively. Conclusions The Persian PCAT demonstrated promising reliability and multidimensional structure, although incomplete CFA replication and variable dimensional stability indicate a need for further cross-cultural replication and item refinement.