Keywords
helplessness
mothers
parents
psychometric properties
How to Cite
Abstract
Although various concepts focused on emotional difficulties of parents, helplessness in caregiving has not been addressed widely in the literature. Caregiving helplessness refers to feelings of loss of control and helplessness in child rearing. Thus, Solomon and George (2011) offered researchers and clinicians a tool to identify parents’ helplessness feelings with developing Caregiving Helplessness Questionnaire (CHQ). Despite research on negative emotions about parenting with children suffering from specific health problems in Turkey, caregiving helplessness was not fully addressed by the researchers. In this study, we aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the CHQ in sample of 251 mothers (Mage=31; SD=5.00) with healthy toddlers (Mage=23 months; SD= 6.90). The results pointed out a 2-factor solution for Turkish mothers, unlike 3-factor structure in the original scale. Mother Helpless and Mother-Child Frightened subscales came out as the first factor (Mh) and Child Caregiver subscale (Cc) as the second factor. Final CFA model (Model 3) demonstrated good model fit. CHQ’s positive correlations with maternal symptoms (anxiety and depression) and child symptoms (internalization and externalization) indicated predictive validity similar to the original scale development study. CHQ also had acceptable internal consistency. We conclude that CHQ is a valid and reliable measure in Turkish sample which can be used in research, clinical and early intervention settings.
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