Abstract
Millions of young people under age 18 assist family members with basic activities of daily living. Current research focuses on how caregiving contributes to the mental/physical health and academic outcomes of young caregivers. However, little is known about how these young people feel about the help they provide and this may be an important factor in understanding the relationship between the provision of care and caregiver outcomes. To promote this effort, this study explored the psychometric properties of a new measure, the Feelings About Helping Scale. High-school aged young caregivers (N = 145) completed an in-class survey on prosocial behavior, including information about providing care to grandparents. The psychometric properties of the Feelings About Helping scale were evaluated using Exploratory Factor Analysis, reliability, and convergent/divergent validity analyses. Results revealed three factors: burden, meaning, and negative physiological responses to helping, explaining 66.26% of the variance. The total scale and its distinct factors exhibited good reliability, and relationships between the factors and psychosocial measures provided evidence of convergent and divergent validity. The discussion focuses on the use of the factors, rather than the total scale, in research designed to explore the psychological and physiological components of young caregivers’ perceptions of the help they provide.
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Hamill, S.B. Assessing Young Caregivers’ Feelings About Helping: Pilot Test of a New Scale. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 38, 571–582 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-021-00792-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-021-00792-7