Family Caregivers' Motives for Helping Scale Derived From Motivation-to-Help Theory

The literature does not contain a measure of family caregivers' motives for helping provide daily complex home care. Such a measure will permit nurses to assess and provide interventions specific to each caregiver's motivation for helping. The purpose of this study was to apply Batson's empirically derived helping pathway theory to the measurement of caregiver motives for helping and develop a short form that does not add to the burden of caregiving. A Principal Components factor analysis (N=93) of Family Caregivers' Motives for Helping Scale is used. Criterion-related validity is ascertained using a triangulated, independent validation procedure with qualitative data from a subsample (N = 41). Subsample subjects' interview data were categorized, based on Batson's theoretical pathway definitions, by coders blinded to caregiver Motives for Helping Scale scores. Three of Batson's four helping pathways (reward seeking, altruism, and punishment-avoidance) were extracted during factor analysis. This three-factor solution explained 66.6% of the variance and was confirmed by a 97% agreement between three of Batson's pathways and caregivers' helping motive score. The content analyses of the descriptive interview data also coincide with the 3-factor solution. The scale items representing Batson's fourth helping pathway, distress reaction, were not retained due to cross loading. The Family Caregivers' Motives for Helping Scale accurately measures three of four theoretically derived motivations for helping another. The scale should be reanalyzed in a larger sample of caregivers. Aligning nursing interventions to caregiver motives for helping can provide reinforcement for caregivers and potentially enhance home care outcomes.