Psychometric properties of the Mother and Father Compulsive Caregiving Scales: a brief measure of current young adult caregiving behaviors toward parents

Abstract

This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Mother and Father Compulsive Caregiving Scales (MFCC). Exploratory (N = 1283, 71.5% Caucasian) and confirmatory (N = 2203, 76.6% Caucasian) factor analyses revealed two-factor structures for each parent: burden and autonomy. Correlational analyses with retrospective self-reports of parent–child relationship quality, family risk indicators, and psychological symptoms demonstrated similar convergent validity for both mother and father burden factors while, interestingly, the findings for mother and father autonomous factors showed different patterns. Results support that the MFCC is a short and convenient measure that would be clinically useful for the assessment of controlling/caregiving behaviors in young adulthood.

Keywords:

• compulsive caregiving
• parentification
• family risk
• quality of parent–child interactions
• young adulthood
• psychometric properties