Turkish Version of Paternal Involvement Scale Shows Preliminary Validity and Reliability

Researchers in Turkey have adapted the Paternal Involvement in Early Infancy Scale (PEACE) into Turkish and report preliminary evidence that the translated instrument is both valid and reliable for measuring how fathers engage with their newborns. The methodological study, published in BMC Pediatrics, involved 227 fathers of infants aged 0 to 12 months who were recruited from Family Health Centers in the city center of Elazığ between January and April 2026. The work addresses a practical gap: paternal engagement during the early months of infancy is described as a vital component that promotes infant development and enhances family health, yet clinicians and researchers need a validated local tool to assess it.

The original 25-item scale underwent a rigorous psychometric workup. Content validity was judged by expert opinion and quantified with the Content Validity Index, which the scale demonstrated at a high level. Construct validity was tested using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). To decide how many underlying factors the data actually supported, the team relied on three empirical retention procedures in parallel: parallel analysis, the Minimum Average Partial (MAP) test and the Kaiser criterion. All three converged on a five-factor solution.

The statistical results were consistent with that structure. The KMO value was 0.873, indicating strong sampling adequacy, and Bartlett’s test of sphericity was statistically significant (χ² = 3804.122, p < 0.001). An EFA using Principal Axis Factoring with Direct Oblimin rotation explained 62.631% of the total variance, with primary factor loadings ranging from 0.446 to 0.897. In the subsequent CFA, standardized factor loadings ranged approximately from 0.49 to 0.93, all 25 items were retained, and the model showed acceptable overall fit (RMSEA = 0.062, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.070).

Reliability estimates also came out strong. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.883 and McDonald’s omega was 0.870, and the analysis included item-total correlations and a test-retest assessment. Taken together, the authors write, the findings provide preliminary support for the five-factor structure and internal consistency of the Turkish PEACE scale.

One caveat stands out. The researchers also ran multi-group CFA to test whether the scale measures the same construct across different groups — specifically infant sex, number of children, paternal education and the spouse’s employment status. While fit indices changed only relatively little across metric and scalar models for these four grouping variables, the suboptimal fit of the configural models limits the strength of any conclusions about measurement invariance. In other words, the claim that the scale behaves identically across subgroups cannot yet be made firmly.

The authors conclude that the Turkish version of PEACE may be a useful instrument for assessing paternal involvement during early infancy, but they are explicit that the evidence is encouraging rather than definitive. Further validation in larger, independent and socioculturally diverse samples is warranted, particularly to confirm measurement invariance and to examine how individual items perform. For now, the scale offers Turkish-speaking researchers and family health services a promising, psychometrically supported way to quantify fathers’ involvement in newborn care — pending replication beyond a single city’s sample.

Subject of Research: Validation and reliability testing of the Turkish version of the Paternal Involvement in Early Infancy Scale among fathers of infants in Turkey.

Article Title: Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Paternal Involvement in Early Infancy Scale

Article References: Kurt, N., Demir, M., & Bahcecioglu Turan, G. (2026). Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Paternal Involvement in Early Infancy Scale. BMC Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-026-07940-x

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12887-026-07940-x

Keywords: paternal involvement, early infancy, scale validation, psychometrics, Turkey, factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, measurement invariance, confirmatory factor analysis, family health, infant care, fatherhood