Chinese Family Influence on Adolescent Volunteerism Scale: Scale Construction and Some Pioneering Findings in Hong Kong

Abstract

The development of an instrument that measures family influence to adolescent volunteerism is reported. The Chinese Family Influence on Adolescent Volunteerism Scale (C-FIAV) was constructed. Content validity, cultural rele- vance, and reading level of the measure were reviewed by adolescents and a panel of experts. The scale was then adminis- tered to a sample of 5,946 junior and senior high school students. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a 2-factor structure, namely positive family influence and extrinsic family influence. Reliability analyses showed that the related measures were internally consistent. The sub-scale scores for volunteers and non-volunteers were different, indicating criterion- related validity. The score was also associated with another measurement on self-ranked importance of family, indicating construct validity. Generally speaking, grade effect was more significant than gender effect for the C-FIAV and sub-scale scores. Implications and limitations are discussed.