Developing the Parenting Concerns Scale and assessment of its validity and reliability

Background Parenting concerns impose considerable psychological burdens on cancer survivors, who, while worrying about disease treatment, simultaneously fear for the healthy development of their minor children. However, the early recognition of this complicated psychological burden has not been adequately explored due to the lack of a valid and reliable scale. This research aims to provide a scientifically valid and reliable assessment tool for evaluating parenting concerns among cancer survivors. Methods Based on literature review and Semi-structured qualitative interview, the item pool for the scale was generated, the preliminary scale through two rounds of Delphi expert consultation. Convenience sampling was used to select 380 cancer survivors in a tertiary hospital from September 2022 to December 2022 as the study subjects to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. Results A 14-item scale with 3-factor structure was identified through exploratory factor analyses. A total of 376 questionnaires were distributed, and 365 valid questionnaires were collected, resulting in a valid response rate of 97.07%. Three common factors were extracted through two rounds of exploratory factor analysis, with cumulative variance contribution rates of 57.427% and 61.629%. Based on modification indices, the model was revised, then confirmatory factor analysis indicated good overall model fit (χ2/df = 1.940, RMSEA = 0.069, CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.929, IFI = 0.940). The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.906. The split-half reliability of the scale was 0.704. The test-retest reliability was 0.821. Conclusion The Parenting Concerns Assessment Scale for cancer survivors demonstrates good reliability and validity, making it a suitable tool for assessing the parenting concerns level in cancer survivors.