Development and validation of the Parents’ Perceived Self-Efficacy to Manage Children’s Internet Use Scale for parents of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: This study developed and validated the Parents’ Perceived Self-Efficacy to Manage Children’s Internet Use Scale (PSMIS) in the parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHODS: In total, 231 parents of children with ADHD were invited to complete the PSMIS, followed by the Chen Internet Addiction Scale and the short version of Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, Version IV Scale – Chinese version for analyzing Internet addiction severity and ADHD symptoms, respectively. RESULTS: The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the four-factor structure of the 18-item PSMIS. The significant difference in the levels of parents’ perceived self-efficacy between the parents of children with and without Internet addiction supported the criterion-related validity of the PSMIS. The internal consistency and 1-month test–retest reliability were acceptable. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the PSMIS has acceptable validity and reliability and can be used for measuring parents’ perceived self-efficacy to manage children’s Internet use among parents of children with ADHD.