Examining the psychometric properties of the Family Resource Scale-revised.

摘要

Introduction: Over 10,000 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in the year 2015 (Siegel, 2015). The five year survival rate across all cancer types is roughly 80%, and there are over 330,000 survivors of pediatric cancers (Ward, 2014; Cure, 2014). Pediatric cancer poses psychological and physical stress to the child and the entire family (Compas, 2014). Several professional organizations have recommended that patients and their families be screened for psychosocial stress (AAP, 2012; Rosenberg, 2013). It is important to have accurate data collection tools. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Family Resource Scale-revised in urban pediatric cancer populations.;Methods: Data from one hundred and forty four families from two urban pediatric cancer centers were examined. Descriptive statistics were computed for demographic variables and scale and subscale scores. Internal consistency of the scale was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha. Correlations were assessed between demographic variables, individual items from the scale, subscales, and total scale scores. Principal Components Analysis was conducted to further examine the internal structure of the scale.;Results: The demographic variable of income positively correlated with the total scale score and the subscales of basic needs and money. Parent's level of education positively correlated with the subscale money. Cronbach's alpha was 0.927 for the entire scale, and Spearman-Brown Prophecy coefficients for all four subscales ranged from 0.944 to 0.981. Principal Components Analysis resulted in a three factor, 16 item model explaining 64.782% of the variance and a 17 item four factor model where 70.915% variance was explained. A 12 item, five factor model was also computed that explained 83.708% of the variance.;Conclusion: Significant relationships between scale and demographic variables note that the higher the level of household income the more adequate the families levels of money and coverage of basic needs. Also the higher the parent's level of education the more adequately they reported their levels of money to be. Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown Prophecy coefficients emphasize the high level of internal consistency and reliabilities of the scale and its subscales. These results confirm that the Family Resource Scale-revised is a reasonably valid measure for estimating the level of resources families of children in treatment for pediatric cancer. Further examination of this scale with pediatric cancer populations in other geographical settings would be recommended. Also, having parents complete the scale at various times during diagnosis and treatment as well as during survivorship would be helpful information because of the possibility that levels of resources may change over time. The relationships between the adequacy of resources and parent and child levels of distress and anxiety should also be examined.