ABSTRACT
This study aimed to develop and initially validate a parent-report Parenting Cyberbullying Preparedness Scale for use with mainland Chinese parents of secondary-school students. A cross-sectional online survey using convenience sampling through school networks in mainland China yielded 1752 valid questionnaires from parents in 30 secondary schools across 20 provinces. The sample was randomly split into two subsamples to conduct exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and to examine the internal structure and internal consistency of the scale. Analyses indicated a three-factor, 23-item structure comprising Knowledge, Education and Competence, with acceptable residual-based fit indices, moderate incremental fit indices and strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.95 for the total scale; 0.86–0.95 for subscales). The Parenting Cyberbullying Preparedness Scale demonstrates strong internal consistency and preliminary evidence of a three-factor internal structure in this sample. Further studies using external criteria and more regionally balanced samples are needed to examine convergent, discriminant, criterion-related and predictive validity.