Assessment of self-care agency in chronically ill adolescents

This study evaluates the reliability and validity of the Denyes' instrument to measure self-care agency in adolescents and identifies significant correlates of agency in a sample of chronically ill adolescents. This descriptive cross-sectional study used a convenience sample of 51 adolescents having asthma, diabetes, and convulsive disorders. Internal consistency estimates of questionnaire factors ranged from alpha 0.65 to 0.87 except in one instance (attitude toward health, 0.17). Construct and concurrent validity were supported as self-care agency factors were significantly related to health practices and status. Of multiple demographic variables, only gender demonstrated significant correlations with any self-care factors, whereas gender and disease type displayed a significant interaction effect across three factors. Although assessment of factor stability remains, the Denyes' instrument appears to be a potentially useful research and clinical assessment tool to measure self-care agency in adolescents with a severe chronic illness.