Background: Proper parent–child interaction is crucial for child development, but an assessment tool in Chinese is currently lacking. This study aimed to develop and validate a parent-reported parent–child interaction scale for Chinese preschool children.

Methods: The Chinese parent-child interaction scale (CPCIS) was designed by an expert panel based on the literature and clinical observations in the Chinese context. The initial CPCIS had 14 parent-child interactive activity items. Psychometric properties of the CPCIS were examined using the Rasch model and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was investigated by the associations between CPCIS and family income, maternal education level, and children's school readiness.

Results: The study recruited 567 Chinese parent-child pairs from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, who completed the CPCIS. Six out of the 14 items in the initial CPCIS were dropped due to suboptimal fit values. The refined 8-item CPCIS was shown to be valid and reliable by Rasch models and CFA. The person separation reliability and Cronbach's α of the CPCIS were 0.81 and 0.82, respectively. The CPCIS scores were positively associated with family's socioeconomic status (η² = 0.05, P < 0.001), maternal education level (η² = 0.08, P < 0.001), and children's school readiness (η² = 0.01, P < 0.01).