Structural validity and internal consistency of the Strengths and Stressors in Parenting (SSF) Questionnaire in parents of children with developmental disabilities

The current study investigated the structural validity and internal consistency of the Strengths and Stressors (SSF) questionnaire. The SSF is used in Swedish habilitation services to measure the positive and negative consequences that the fostering of a child with a developmental disability can have on family functioning in six domains: parent's feelings and attitudes, social life, family finances, relationship to the other parent, siblings, and professional support. The proposed six-factor model was tested with confirmatory factor analysis with data collected from 291 parents of children with developmental disabilities. The six-factor model had an acceptable fit according to most fit indices, but two items were non-significant. Overall, the internal consistency was acceptable or good. The SSF, with the proposed six-factor solution, can be a useful tool when assessing parental perspectives on the impacts of having a child with a developmental disability in clinical settings and research.