Abstract
The present study clarified the structure of cognitive processes among parents (N=259) of 3- to 5-year old children. Reflection, a new concept addressed by this study, appeared to be closely related to the concepts of metacognition and self-reflective observation. A "parental reflection model" consisted of three types of reflection: Reflection on One's Self (PR); Reflection on Children by Parents (CR); and parents' Reflection on Themselves Through Other People (OR). Specifically, OR refers to parents' reflections based on talking to other parents or observing other people's children. A questionnaire, which included the Parental Reflection Scale (PRS), was constructed to include the three types of reflection and other scales including self-consciousness/self-reflection, parent-child relationship, maternal awareness, and child care attitudes. Factors analysis of the PRS revealed a two-factor structure for PR and OR, and a three-factor structure for CR. Based on these findings, a new hierarchical three-level model was devised to explain the influence of lower level reflections on higher level reflections; validity was confirmed by Structural Equation Modeling. Reliability was high for the sub-scales (PR, CR, and OR) of the PRS. The reliability and the validity of this scale were confirmed by the relations between the PRS and other scales.
