title: Development of an instrument to measure mothers' performance of self-care activities for children.
abstract: One who performs self-care activities for another is known as a dependent care agent, according to Orem. Attempts to study mothers' performance of self-care activities for children have been impeded by the lack of an instrument with which to measure dependent care agent performance. Findings based on a sample of 475 women indicate that the Dependent Care Agent (DCA) questionnaire developed in this study had a coefficient alpha of .91, with item-total correlations ranging from .27 to .63. Although Orem's expected dimensions of universal, developmental, and health deviation requisites were not represented in the factor analysis, individual requisites for self-care were clearly present.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Gaffney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002654:Child Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012648:Self Care; D012928:Social Desirability; D012941:Social Responsibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires