Parental Bonding Instrument [PBI-25]

Parental Bonding Instrument [PBI-25]

Description

The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI-25) is a 25-item self-report questionnaire developed by Parker, Tupling, and Brown in 1979 to assess individuals’ retrospective perceptions of parental behaviour. It focuses on two core dimensions of the parent–child relationship: Care and Overprotection/Control. The instrument has been widely applied in research on parental bonding, attachment, developmental psychology, and mental health.

Purpose and Structure

The PBI-25 assesses how individuals remember their parents’ behaviour toward them during the first 16 years of life. The Care dimension reflects parental warmth, affection, empathy, and emotional support versus coldness and neglect, whereas Overprotection reflects control, intrusiveness, and excessive protection versus encouragement of autonomy and independence.

Scoring

Each item is rated on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 = “Very Unlike” to 3 = “Very Like.” The questionnaire consists of 12 Care items and 13 Overprotection items, with separate subscale scores calculated for maternal and paternal bonding.

Higher and lower scores across the two dimensions can be used to describe different patterns of perceived parental bonding, ranging from high care with support for autonomy to combinations characterised by lower care or greater parental control. Interpretation should consider the population and the relevant normative or clinical context.

Data Analysis and Psychometric Evaluation

PBI-25 data can be examined using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlations, regression analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Psychometric evaluation may also investigate the stability of the two-dimensional structure and its validity across different demographic and cultural populations.

References

Parker G, Tupling H, Brown LB. A Parental Bonding Instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology. 1979;52(1):1–10.

Wilhelm K, Parker G. Reliability of the Parental Bonding Instrument and Intimate Bond Measure scales. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 1990;24(2):199–202.

Manassis K, Owens M, Adam KS, West M, Sheldon-Keller A. Assessing attachment: Convergent validity of the Adult Attachment Interview and the Parental Bonding Instrument. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 1999;33(4):559–567.

Wilhelm K, Niven H, Parker G, Hadzi-Pavlovic D. The stability of the Parental Bonding Instrument over a 20-year period. Psychological Medicine. 2005;35(3):387–393.

Tags: PBI-25, Parental Bonding Instrument, Parental Bonding, Care, Overprotection, Parental Control, Autonomy, Parenting, Parent–Child Relationship, Attachment, Psychometric Assessment