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Positive Parental Feelings Scale3

Positive Parental Feelings Scale Test

Understand how parents think, feel, and act when showing warmth to their children in about 7 minutes. A 36 item profile across six areas pinpoints strengths and gaps to guide counseling.

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Questions: 367 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

26,836 views

3,251 completion

2,641 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

64/72

Toward the Child (TtC)

Measures the parent's positive emotional attitude toward the child.

Low positivity

Moderate positivity

High positivity

18 – 48: Low positivity | 49 – 60: Moderate positivity | 61 – 72: High positivity

A score of 64 falls in the High positivity range, suggesting a strongly positive emotional attitude toward the child is typically experienced and expressed.

example score

0/0

Unconditional Acceptance (UA)

Measures the degree of unconditional acceptance a parent feels toward their child, grounded in recognition of the child’s individuality and intrinsic worth.

Acceptance present

0: Acceptance present | 0: Acceptance present

A score of 0 indicates unconditional acceptance is present on this scale as scored.

example score

0/0

Strengths and Achievements (SaA)

Measures the extent to which a parent’s positive feelings toward the child are grounded in pride and gratitude for the child’s merits and achievements.

Fixed score

Only possible level

0: Fixed score | 0: Only possible level

A score of 0 indicates the only possible level on this scale, reflecting a fixed, neutral baseline for pride and gratitude tied to the child’s achievements in this scoring setup.

example score

11/24

Parental Love (PL)

Measures the degree of emotionally positive, affectionate parental attitude marked by a sense of the child’s specialness and trust in the child’s sincerity and honesty.

Lower

Moderate

High

6 – 12: Lower | 13 – 20: Moderate | 21 – 24: High

A score of 11 falls in the Lower range, suggesting comparatively less expressed parental love and exclusivity/trustful warmth toward the child on this scale.

example score

11/24

Toward Spouse as a Parent (TSaaP)

Measures the parent's positive emotional attitude toward the spouse as a co-parent, reflecting camaraderie and a sense of family security.

Lower

Moderate

High

6 – 12: Lower | 13 – 20: Moderate | 21 – 24: High

A score of 11 falls in the Lower range, suggesting comparatively less expressed positive feelings toward the spouse as a co-parent and a weaker sense of camaraderie or family security in this area.

example score

0/0

Toward Parenthood Overall (TPO)

This scale measures the extent to which a parent experiences joy, satisfaction, and a sense of happiness in the parenting role overall.

Lower positive feelings

Higher positive feelings

0: Lower positive feelings | 0: Higher positive feelings

A score of 0 falls within the lower positive feelings range, indicating minimal reported joy and satisfaction with parenting on this scale.

example score

0/0

Toward Oneself as a Parent (TOaaP)

This scale measures a parent's emotional attitude toward themselves as a parent, including confidence, self-esteem, and self-respect in the parenting role.

Score unavailable

No variability

0: Score unavailable | 0: No variability

A score of 0 falls within the only available range (0–0), so this result cannot be differentiated into higher or lower self-confidence or self-respect as a parent on this scale.

example score

87/144

Overall Positive Parental Feelings (OPPF)

Measures the parent’s overall positive emotional attitude toward themselves, parenting, their spouse, and their child as an integrated indicator of harmonious positive parenting feelings.

Low

Moderate

High

36 – 72: Low | 73 – 96: Moderate | 97 – 144: High

A score of 87 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting generally positive parenting feelings with some areas that may be less consistently warm or confident.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Parents seeking connection

41%OF USERS

Mothers and fathers who want to better understand their warmth, pride, and support toward their child and strengthen everyday bonding.

Parents in conflict moments

34%OF USERS

Parents noticing tension, frequent arguments, or emotional distance who want to see which positive feelings are blocked and where to start improving.

Clients in family counseling

25%OF USERS

Parents taking the questionnaire as part of therapy or consultations to quickly map the family’s emotional climate and track progress.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

To the child (Ttc)

Average

32.5

Normal range

22.5 — 42.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Unconditional Acceptance (UA)

Average

Normal range

0 — 0

min.

max.

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Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Advantages and Achievements (AaA)

Average

Normal range

0 — 0

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Parental Love (PL)

Average

14.3

Normal range

11.1 — 17.4

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

To the spouse as a parent (Ttsaap)

Average

15.7

Normal range

13.4 — 18

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

To parenting in general (Tpig)

Average

Normal range

0 — 0

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

To yourself as a parent (Tyaap)

Average

Normal range

0 — 0

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Overall Level of Positive Parenting Feelings (OLoPPF)

Average

90.5

Normal range

76.7 — 104.3

min.

max.

144

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please rate the extent to which the statements below apply to you using the four-point scale provided. There are no right or wrong answers, as these statements are intended only to reflect characteristics of your relationship with the child. Please respond as accurately and honestly as possible.

- Yes, that is true
- Probably
- Unlikely
- No, not at all
- Yes, this is true
- This is probably true
- This is probably not true
- No, this is not true at all
- Yes, this is true
- This is probably true
- This is probably not true
- No, this is not true at all

These are 3 of the 36 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Positive Parental Feelings Scale Test - Symptoms and Signs

parental attitude

family

This measure is designed to assess how parents perceive and express positive emotions toward their child. The Positive Parental Feelings Scale provides a brief, structured self-report format that can be used to characterize supportive affect and parent-child relational warmth. It was developed by John E. Bates.

The questionnaire includes 36 items and typically takes about 7 minutes to complete. Responses are intended to support clinical formulation by summarizing patterns of positive parental affect and related behaviors; the Positive Parental Feelings Scale may be used as an adjunct to interview and other assessment data when evaluating the emotional climate of the family.

Author: John E. Bates

Literature: Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.). Handbook of parenting: Volume 1. Children and parenting. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2002.