INSTRUMENTAL CARING INVENTORY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT MEASURING CARING AS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCT.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 220
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Psychometrics.
Description: This study was conducted to develop and examine the validity and reliability of the Instrumental Caring Inventory (ICI), an instrument designed to measure compassion, empathy, and altruism as the three dimensions of caring. A tripartite model of caring designed by the investigator was based on the metaphor of instrumental friendship identified by Rawnsley (1982).

The concept of caring as the essence of nursing is being formalized in nursing theory and valued in nursing practice. The conceptual model designed for this study provides a theoretical basis for describing the presence of caring and for quantifying its characteristics.

The three scales of the ICI were developed as measures of compassion, empathy, and altruism. Convenience samples of female nurses and non-nurses were used to examine the validity and reliability of this new instrument.

Content validity was examined by a panel of experts from human-service professions familiar with the concepts. Convergent/discriminant validity and group difference validity were also examined to determine construct validity.

Correlations among the items of each subscale of the ICI (r $\leq$.58) indicate that the items are related yet not redundant. Correlations among the three subscales of the ICI (r =.43 to r =.56) demonstrate a dominant domain and support the interrelationship of the domains to an overriding construct. Correlations between existing measures and the subscales of the ICI indicate that the subscales measure similar but not the same concept. These findings support the premise that caring is a three dimensional construct composed of compassion, empathy, and altruism and measured by the ICI.

Internal consistency was assessed during each phase of the study by calculating Cronbach Alpha Coefficients for the three subscales of the ICI for the samples used. The results of the study indicate the ICI demonstrated acceptable reliability in all samples. The reliability for the compassion subscale was r =.71 to r =.73, for the empathy subscale was r =.70 to r =.77, and for the altruism subscale was r =.72 to r =.79.

Identifying an integrated interrelational model that expresses the dynamic interdependence of the dimensions of caring and an instrument to measure the construct of caring further defines and articulates the meaning of caring for nursing.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-11, Section: B, page: 4785.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1994.

School code: 0055.