Clarifying and measuring filial concepts across five cultural groups

Literature on responsibility of adult children for aging parents reflects lack of conceptual clarity. The authors examined filial concepts across five cultural groups: African-, Asian-, Euro-, Latino-, and Native Americans. Data were randomly divided for scale development (n = 285) and cross-validation (n = 284). Exploratory factor analysis on 59 items identified three filial concepts: Responsibility, Respect, and Care. Confirmatory factor analysis on a 12-item final scale showed data fit the three-factor model better than a single factor solution despite substantial correlations between the factors (.82, 082 for Care with Responsibility and Respect, and .74 for Responsibility with Respect). The scale can be used in cross-cultural research to test hypothesis that predict associations among filial values, filial care-giving and caregiver health outcomes. [Journal abstract]