Standardization of Mother Attachment Inventory in Indian Context for Senior Secondary Students: Psychometric Approach

Abstract

Aim and Objectives of present study: To standardize the Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI) which is derived from the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment Inventory, in Indian context; to report the reliability scores in form of Cronbach’s Alpha; and to test its psychometric properties in a sample comprising of 250 students (including both boys and girls) studying in class XI of co-ed schools of Delhi.
Background of present study: Though there are several studies which report the use of IPPA towards understanding the role of parental and peer attachment among adolescents and emerging adults, however there is strong dearth felt for standardization and psychometric report availability towards individual inventories within the IPPA. Moreover, this is one among a few studies which focus on cultural standardization of the tool within Indian context.
Research Design followed for present study: cultural validation and standardization of research tools using structural equation modeling. Factor structure was developed for the tool using EFA. This was followed by CFA which helped to determine and confirm the factors extracted.
Research Method: Data was collected between November 2022 and March 2023. In stage I the data collected with the help of the research instrument was cleaned and exported onto a user-friendly statistical database (SPSS version 23.0). In stage II the factor structure was tested on participants comprising of senior secondary school students studying in class XI of identified co-ed schools functioning in morning session within Delhi-NCR. Stage-III involved confirmation of factors emerged from the study.
Findings: A four-factor structure with eighteen items emerged namely Trust, Communication and Alienation, which is in alignment with the original scale IPPA. The Indian version is reliable and valid for assessing maternal attachment in adolescents up to 17 years of age.
Conclusion: The psychometric testing revealed that the dimensions of the present scale were adequate for measuring attachment relationships between Indian mothers and adolescents in cultural-friendly manner. This study also recommends the use of such tools to measure social connections and attachment relationships. Hence, this can have far -reaching consequences in prevention and management of relationship issues among emerging adults.