Assessing parents' self-efficacy beliefs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece

The aim of the present study is to establish the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy for Parenting Tasks Index-Toddler Scale (SEPTI-TS) in the Greek educational context and to examine changes in parenting self-efficacy over time. The Short Form of SEPTI-TS was used to evaluate parents' self-efficacy on four different domains: nurturance, discipline, play and routine. A sample of 159 parents of children aged from 3 to 5 years completed an online survey at two time periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results supported the proposed SEPTI-TS dimensionality (comparative fit index = .905, root-mean-square error of approximation = .053, standardised root mean square residual = .055). The results showed that the average parenting self-efficacy scores regarding discipline, play and routine were lower than parenting self-efficacy scores of those domains before the COVID-19 pandemic. Results also indicated that parents feel high self-efficacy for play with their children, whereas they perceive low self-efficacy for children's discipline. Good practices are discussed to address new challenges to Greek parents.