Clinical Psychological Perspectives on Volunteerism in Humanitarian Crises Psychometric Development of the Midlife Crisis Questionnaire (MLC-Q) Insights from a Multinational Study

AbstractBackground/Aim: To develop a standardized comprehensive scale for measuring midlife crises in middle-aged individuals.Design and Methods: There were a total of 519 middle-aged respondents.252 samples were utilized for EFA and 267 were used for CFA. An initial pool of 63 items was constructed by taking a theoretical and conceptual idea from the literature. The items were finally reduced to 27 after a thorough exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with good factor loadings, communalities, model fit, reliability, and validity.Results: The final scale provided a 5-factor model namely Physical Health and Changes, Identity and Self-reflection, Emotional Distress, Relationship Evaluation, Career, Social Comparisons, and Worries about Mortality. They have strong internal consistency and validity indices and are shown to be connected and interdependent. Confirmatory Factor Analysis further strengthened the association of latent variables.Conclusion: This scale is a new and effective tool that addresses a number of the midlife crisis issues that middle-aged persons encounter. Researchers, psychologists, and clinicians can use this scale to help recognize and measure middle-age crises to apply the necessary interventions.Keywords: Midlife crisis, middle age, EFA, CFAIntroductionEven though the stages of childhood and teenage development have received a lot of attention, adult development remained understudied until psychiatrists and psychologists started looking into it in recent years. University of Michigan psychologist David Gutmann claims three stages of adulthood: young adulthood, which lasts from 21 to 35; mature adulthood, which endures from 35 to 60; and old age, which continues from 60 to death (Freund & Ritter, 2009). The third quarter of an individual's average lifespan is considered middle age. This time frame is beyond young adulthood and the start of old age. Midlife adults are regarded by academics as a "pivot" generation, which frequently offers assistance to generations above and below when things go awry (Fingerman et al., 2010). The "midlife crisis" is a common tale surrounding midlife.