Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult, FRS-A – Chinese Version

Description

The term “亲职化” (parentification), also translated as “fathering” or “parental role reversal,” refers to the phenomenon where children or adolescents in emotional or developmental states that they cannot handle take on adult roles too early and continuously, thus providing caregiving functions. Parentification primarily involves two forms: one is functional parenting tasks that the child undertakes, and the other is emotional parenting tasks that the child is burdened with. This occurs when parents neglect responsibilities that should be handled by them, transferring the responsibility to children or adolescents. As a result, children sacrifice their needs for attention, comfort, and guidance to take care of their parents’ needs. This also leads to feelings of unfairness and inequality regarding these burdens.

Authors and Contact Email

Wu Jiayu, 2005. Email information not available.

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to measure the extent of parentification experienced by children due to their responsibilities in familial tasks and emotional caregiving, as well as the feelings of unfairness and inequality that arise from being inadequately acknowledged and supported.

Test Year

Information not available.

Administration Method and Scoring

The “亲职化” scale was revised by Taiwanese scholar Shi Fangmeng based on the Jurkovic and Sessions parentification scale (Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult). The scale uses a Likert-type five-point scale with responses categorized as “非常不符合” (very inconsistent), “不符合” (inconsistent), “没意见” (neutral), “符合” (consistent), and “非常符合” (very consistent), allowing respondents to indicate the option that best reflects their actual feelings. In scoring, items 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 31 are reverse scored; all other items are positively scored. A higher score indicates a higher degree of parentification in that dimension.

Reliability and Validity

The reliability coefficients (α) for the subscales of the parentification scale range from .69 to .86.

Factors and Subscales

Information not available.

Keywords

Parentification, emotional caregiving, familial responsibilities, child development, role reversal.

Items in Chinese

1. 我常常帮家人买束西，例如杂货或衣服
2. 当父母需要帮忙时，常常会找我去帮忙
3. 我常常帮忙兄弟姐妹完成他们的功课
4. 即使我的父母有心，我仍无法依赖父母来满足我的需求
5. 在家中，家人认为我的行为和想法比我的实际年龄还要成熟。
6. 我经常负责照顾其他家人，例如为他们清洗、喂食、穿衣等
7. 家人常常不重视我的感觉
8. 我会需要打工来减少家里的经济负担
9. 我常常觉得自己像是家中的仲裁者。
10. 我常常对家人感到失望
11. 在家中，我常常为家人牺牲却没被注意到
12. 家人有烦恼时，常会来找我倾诉
13. 我常常为家人洗衣服
14. 当家人感到烦恼的时候，我通常不会被卷入其中
15. 我的父母在我遇到问题时，鲁给我很多的帮忙。
16. 在我家，我很少下厨。
17. 我的父母冲突时，爸爸或妈妈会要我站在他那边
18. 即使我的家人不需要我的帮忙，我总是得应该对家人负责。
19. 我很少被要求去照顾我的兄弟姐妹
20. 我常常觉得自己比父母背负更多的责任
21. 我的家人相当了解我
22. 父母希望我能帮忙管教我的兄弟姐妹
23. 我的父母常常指责我在家的时候没有努力帮忙。
24. 我的家人如果没有我，他们就无法和睦相处
25. 我很难相信我的父母
26. 我常常被夹在父母的冲突之中。
27. 我帮忙管理家里的财务（例如：决定买什么东西或付账等）
28. 在我家，我付出的比我获得的多
29. 由于我对家里所负担的责任，让我很难跟上学校的课业进度
30. 在家中，我比较像大人而不像小孩
31. 我很少需要去帮助家人做他们的家务事
32. 当我做一些家人没有参与的事情时，我常会有罪恶感
33. 父母常常对我感到失望
34. 有些家人的事情，我处理会比其他人处理来得好。
35. 如果我知道家人不快乐，我就快乐不起来
36. 如果我的家人不顺利，我心里会很不舒服
37. 家人的福是我心中最重视的事

Items in English

1. I often help family members buy items such as groceries or clothes.
2. When parents need help, they often ask me to assist.
3. I often help my siblings complete their homework.
4. Even though my parents mean well, I still cannot rely on them to meet my needs.
5. In my family, my behaviors and thoughts are seen as more mature than my actual age.
6. I often take care of other family members, such as washing, feeding, and dressing them.
7. Family members often do not value my feelings.
8. I need to work to reduce the financial burden on my family.
9. I often feel like the arbitrator in my family.
10. I often feel disappointed in my family.
11. In my family, I often sacrifice for them without being noticed.
12. When family members are troubled, they often come to me to talk.
13. I often do laundry for my family.
14. When family members are troubled, I usually do not get involved.
15. My parents provide a lot of help when I encounter problems.
16. I rarely cook in my family.
17. When my parents have conflicts, they ask me to take sides.
18. Even if my family does not need my help, I feel I should be responsible for them.
19. I am rarely asked to take care of my siblings.
20. I often feel that I bear more responsibility than my parents.
21. My family understands me quite well.
22. My parents hope I can help discipline my siblings.
23. My parents often criticize me for not helping out at home.
24. My family cannot get along without me.
25. I find it hard to trust my parents.
26. I often feel caught between my parents’ conflicts.
27. I help manage the family finances (e.g., deciding what to buy or paying bills).
28. In my family, I give more than I receive.
29. Due to the responsibilities I bear at home, I find it hard to keep up with schoolwork.
30. At home, I am more like an adult than a child.
31. I rarely need to help family members with their chores.
32. When I do things that family members do not participate in, I often feel guilty.
33. My parents often feel disappointed in me.
34. I handle some family matters better than others.
35. If I know my family is unhappy, I cannot feel happy.
36. If my family is not doing well, I feel uncomfortable.
37. The well-being of my family is the most important thing to me.

References

Boszormenyi-Nagy & Spark, 1973.