Validity and reliability of the Family Empowerment Scale for parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate.

Background: Empowerment is recognized as a crucial concept in strengthening the position of parents in healthcare services. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish Family Empowerment Scale (FES).

Methods: This methodological study was conducted between January and March 2021, with 348 family members actively caring for their children in the age group of 0-18 years with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). The English FES was translated into Turkish using back translation and modified so that it is generic and convenient for all families. The construct validity, internal validity, internal consistency, and split-half test reliability and responsiveness of the Turkish FES were examined.

Results: The original FES structure with three factors (family, health services provided to the child and community participation) and 34 items was verified in Turkish culture. This obtained structure can explain 66% of the variance of the relevant concept. Scores of parents ranged between 34 and 170 points. Increasing scores indicated a positive significance regarding family empowerment. The Cronbach's α reliability coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.976.

Conclusion: The study findings and the goodness-of-fit values indicated that the FES and its Turkish version are a valid and reliable measurement instrument to be used in Turkish culture.