Resource Parent Self-Assessment on Caregiving for Teens (RPSAC-T)
Description / Purpose:
This tool is used to assess resource parents’ (the collective term used to refer to kinship/foster/adoptive parents) knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and skills to care for teens placed in their homes. It measures 17 characteristics and 10 competencies of resource parents who provide care to teenagers aged 12–20 years old, with a total of 161 items.
Target Population: Resource parents’ (the collective term used to refer to kinship/foster/adoptive parents) caring for teenagers aged 12–20 years old placed in their homes.
Time to Administer: Approximately 1 hour.
Completed By: Resource parents.
Modalities Available: Computerized, Pen and Paper, Online
Scoring Information: Caregivers are asked to respond to questions on a scale of 1 (not at all like me) to 6 (a lot like me). The average of each competency/characteristic is then calculated. This score is calculated through a computer program or by hand using paper and pencil methods. Computerized scoring is strongly suggested as there are reverse scoring items included, which increases the chance of user error if not done correctly.
Languages Available:
Training Requirements for Intended Users: No training is needed to administer or use this survey. The tool comes with a scoring guide that can be easily followed.
Availability: This tool is available online and is free to access. The link to access the tool is located here: https://spaulding.org/professionals/spaulding-institute/core-teen-curriculum/
Contact Information
- Company: Spaulding for Children
- Website: spaulding.org
- Name: Sue Cohick
- Email: SCohick@spaulding.org
- Phone: (947) 224-1311
Summary of Relevant Psychometric Research
This tool has received the Measurement Tools Rating of "B – Psychometrics Demonstrated" based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The tool must have 1 published, peer-reviewed study that has established the measure’s psychometrics (e.g., reliability and validity, sensitivity and specificity, etc.). Please see the Measurement Tools Rating Scale for more information.
Day, A., Feltner, A., Somers, C., Vanderwill, L., Stevens, K., Willis, T., Henneman, K., Cohick, S., Patterson, D., & Resko, S. (2022). Development and validation of a self-assessment tool to assess resource parents’ personal attributes, knowledge, attitudes & behaviors around caring for teens (RPSAC-T): An exploratory study. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 16(4), 512–532. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2021.1918603
Sample:
Participants — Initial validation sample n=170; Cross-validation sample n=329
Race/Ethnicity — Initial validation sample: 91% Caucasian, 6% African Amer., 4% Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native, 2% Hispanic, and 1% Asian Amer.; Cross-validation sample: 88 % Caucasian, 10% African Amer., 2% Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native, 2% Hispanic, and 1% Asian Amer.
Summary:
The study develops and evaluates the psychometric properties of a tool to assess resource parents’ (the collective term used to refer to kinship/foster/adoptive parents) knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, and skills to care for teens placed in their homes. After first engaging 34 resource parents informally for feedback on initial item creation and selection, the internal consistency and reliability of the Resource Parent Self-Assessment on Caregiving for Teens (RPSAC-T) was examined across two samples of resource parents, including an initial validation sample and cross-validation sample. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.730 to 0.930 for the initial validation sample, and 0.432 to 0.867 for the cross-validation sample. This three-stage process revealed 17 characteristics and 10 competencies retained for a total of 27 constructs measured by 161 items.
Date Reviewed: June 2023 (Originally reviewed in June 2023)
