Cross-national invariance of dimensions of parental rearing behaviour: Comparison of psychometric data of Swedish depressives and healthy subjects with Dutch target ratings on the EMBU

Conducted a psychometric study on 205 healthy Swedish Ss (mean age 24.9 yrs) and 141 depressed Swedish inpatients (mean age 49.5 yrs) and 277 healthy Dutch Ss (mean age 41.1 yrs) and 841 Dutch phobics (mean age 42.2 yrs), using the EMBU, a self-report instrument designed to assess memories of parents' rearing behavior. Of the 4 primary factors identified previously with Dutch Ss (Rejection, Emotional Warmth, Overprotection, and Favoring Subject), the 1st 3 were retrieved in a similar form in the 2 Swedish groups. Examination of the metric equivalence of the scales and the strength of the factors from each group indicated that comparisons of patterns and levels between groups from the respective countries on the 3 factors showing cross-national constancy would be warranted. Scale-level factor analyses of these dimensions produced identical 2-factor compositions across national groups, which further supported this conclusion