Development and Validation of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Scale for Caretakers Working in Childcare Institutes

Introduction: With a rising number of children being placed in childcare institutes across the country, the delivery of adequate socioemotional care has become imperative. The role of caregivers in such institutions is pivotal in ensuring the well-being of the children yet little is known about their current capacity and practice with respect to providing psychological care. This study aims to develop and validate knowledge, attitudes, and practice scale for caretakers in childcare institutes. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to develop and validate the scale through three phases (a) the first phase (qualitative phase) was a comprehensive review of literature for item generation; (b) the second phase (quantitative phase) con- sisted of establishing content validity (item reduction) by seven experts in the field of child and adolescent mental health rating each item on suitability, relevance, and acceptability; (c) the third phase entailed translation of the questionnaire in the regional language. Results: In an initial item generation of 60 items, resulting in a final pool of 40 items validated by experts, satisfactory content validity index was (CVI > 0.79). Conclusion: This scale can be used to assess caretakers in institutional homes for children in the Indian context. The gaps identified in the knowledge of the caregivers by this assessment can be utilized in developing a robust training module and intervention for caretakers.