title: Predictors of children's self-care performance: testing the theory of self-care deficit.
abstract: Orem's theory of self-care deficit proposes relationships between self-care performance and (a) basic conditioning factors, (b) self-care agency, and (c) dependent-care agent performance. The purpose of this study was to examine these proposed relationships in children. The study sample was composed of 414 students in grades 4 through 12, ages 9 through 18 years. Using regression analyses, study findings were that the variables chosen to represent the basic conditioning factors together accounted for 19% of the variance in children's self-care performance. Separately, both age and health state were significant predictors. Additionally, when self-care agency was added to the regression model, the combination accounted for 36% of the variance. A correlational analysis showed a moderate relationship between a child's self-care performance and her or his mothers' dependent-care agent performance. Future research should continue to investigate Orem's theories and the operationalization of the concepts.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D009733:Nursing Diagnosis; D009742:Nursing Theory; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012648:Self Care