Measuring parental attitudes towards children’s nurturance and self-determination rights

This research investigates parental attitudes in Greece toward children’s rights to nurturance and self‑determination for children aged 10–14 and examines how these attitudes relate to parents’ intentions and self‑reported behaviors. Grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the study follows a two‑stage quantitative design (pilot N1 = 73; main N2 = 403) to adapt and validate a Greek version of the Children’s Rights Attitude (CRA) questionnaire. Factor-analytic and structural equation modeling results supported a 16‑item CRA scale organized into two dimensions—nurturance and self‑determination rights—with satisfactory reliability and evidence of convergent, discriminant, and concurrent criterion validity through their associations with TPB‑based attitudes, intentions, and past behaviors. Across both studies, parents reported stronger support for nurturance rights than for self‑determination rights, yet self‑determination‑supporting behaviors were more frequently enacted than nurturance practices. Structural equation modeling results indicated that nurturance‑supporting behavior was primarily intention‑driven, whereas self‑determination‑supporting behavior was simultaneously shaped by both TPB constructs and broader CRA attitudes, underscoring the importance of domain‑general normative beliefs about children’s autonomy. These findings highlight the utility of the Greek CRA measure and point to the need for targeted parental education oriented to child rights and human rights initiatives that strengthen frameworks for the everyday exercise of both nurturance and self‑determination rights in the Greek family context.