Exploring the factor structure of the parent reading belief inventory (PRBI): Example of Serbia

Abstract

In the present study we explored the core factor structure originally proposed by the developer of the Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI) DeBaryshe (DeBaryshe & Binder, 1994; DeBaryshe, 1995). The PRBI was developed to assess and explore parents' beliefs about reading aloud to their children, measuring parents' attitudes and perceptions about how children learn, the content of their learning and parental efficacy in the process. The PRBI is supposed to have 7 underlying subscales and a total score. Using a sample of 227 parents in Serbia our analyses showed internal consistency estimates were not in line with those reported by the authors of the PRBI. Using confirmatory factor analysis the subscale models showed substantial variance in how well they fit. Better fit was found for the overall models for the entire PRBI scale. Among them, the correlated factors model exhibited the best fit indices. Limitations and future research are discussed.