Abstract
- Nursing scholars have contributed much to the conceptual analysis and theoretical development of caring as an attribute of concern to nursing in practice, research and education. While there are many studies that provide theoretical linkages between nurse caring and specific health outcomes, few quantitative research studies have been published that have focused on family caring. The authors report on the development and testing of two instruments, the Adolescent Family Caring Scale and the Family Caring Inventory. The Adolescent Family Caring Scale was developed to measure caring as a potential protective factor, especially among youth who live in stressful environments. The reliability and validity of this instrument was tested with 237 adolescents (Ages 13 to 17; 68% African-American) from two public high schools in Indiana. The items for the scale were developed based on caring theory and qualitative studies with inner city adolescents. The scale had high internal consistency reliability supported by a Cronbach’s alpha of .97. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation extracted five factors accounting for 61.7% of the variance, with factor loadings ranging from 0.36 to 0.79. Evidence of the scale’s construct validity was supported by positive relationships between social support and hope. Predictive validity was supported by negative correlations between the scale and physical fighting. Correlations with a family support scale provided evidence for discriminate validity. The Family Caring Inventory (FCI) was also developed based on caring theory. It measures caring as a family strength, which may explain why some families are vulnerable while others are more resilient when dealing with real or perceived stressors. The scale was tested with 200 nursing students from three higher educational institutions: a community college in North Carolina and two universities in South Carolina. The Family Apgar and the Caring Ability Inventory were used to determine the scale’s validity. Data collection is completed and analysis is ongoing. Final results will be reported in the conference presentation.