The Parenthood Regret Scale among Italian parents: psychometric evidence and network associations with parental identity, reflective functioning, parenting behaviors, and sociodemographic characteristics

Parenthood regret, a feeling arising from the judgment that the decision to have children was wrong and the belief that an alternative choice would have led to a better life, is influenced by various demographic, relational, and contextual factors. Despite its significance, large-scale studies on parenthood regret employing validated measures have only emerged in recent years, and our understanding of the phenomenon is in its infancy. This research aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Parenthood Regret Scale (PRS) and expand on its relation with parental identity, reflective functioning, parenting behaviors, and relevant sociodemographics using a network approach. Data were collected from 3,165 parents (81.93% mothers) residing in Italy with children aged 0–18. Study 1 (N = 1,914 parents; 82.34% mothers) assessed the PRS’s factorial structure and invariance across parent gender. Study 2 (N = 1,251 parents; 81.29% mothers) examined the associations among parenthood regret, reflective functioning, parental identity, parenting behaviors, and sociodemographic variables. The PRS exhibited strong psychometric properties and invariance between mothers and fathers. Additionally, the network analysis indicated that parenthood regret showed stronger links to higher reconsideration of commitment, lower identity commitment, higher pre-mentalizing modes, and greater parental rejection. Finally, parenthood regret showed small associations with younger parent age, being a father, unplanned pregnancy, non-partnered status, and raising a child with physical or psychological difficulties. The findings confirm the PRS as a reliable measure for assessing parenthood regret in the Italian context and identify its key correlates.