Measuring Parental Overprotection: Testing the Unidimensional and Two-Dimensional Structures of the POM Turkish Form

The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Turkish form of the Parental Overprotection Measure (POM), developed to assess parents' overprotective attitudes toward their children. The study group consisted of 186 participants, specifically parents of children aged 60–72 months attending public preschools in the X district of X. Linguistic equivalence of the scale was established through forward and back-translation methods. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) conducted to test construct validity supported the unidimensional structure, consistent with the original form. Following the analysis, Item 15—which showed low discriminative power due to the collective structure and child-rearing habits in Turkish culture—was removed from the scale. The goodness-of-fit indices for the final 18-item form were found to be at adequate levels (RMSEA = .088; CFI = .943; TLI = .936; SRMR = .060). The reliability coefficients were calculated as McDonald’s Omega (.917) and Cronbach's Alpha (.915), indicating that the instrument possesses a high level of internal consistency. Furthermore, the two-factor structure of the scale, consisting of "restriction" and "comfort" dimensions, was also examined and reported. The findings demonstrate that the Turkish form of the Parental Overprotection Measure is a valid and reliable assessment tool for determining the overprotective attitudes of parents with preschool-aged children.