Evaluando la Implicación del Padre: Propiedades Psicométricas de la Escala Father Involvement

The changes in gender roles within the family context require new conceptualizations and measurements of paternal involvement. The objective of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Father Involvement Scale (FIS). A sample of 401 Uruguayan children and adolescents was randomly divided to perform exploratory (n=201) and confirmatory (n=200) factorial analyses. The exploratory analyses suggested the existence of a single factor, that showed excellent adjustment indexes in the confirmatory analysis. The reliability of the scale was .95. While no differences were observed in reported paternal involvement according to sex, differences were found when considering the child's developmental stage, fathers' education level, socioeconomic status, family type and cohabitation with the father. The scale's psychometric properties suggest it is a useful instrument to assess children's perceptions of father involvement.