Assessment of Family Engagement: Modification of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale

Abstract

A person can be engaged not only at work but also in other areas of life. Studies have shown that people can be engaged in sports, academia, or daily family activities. In fact, family engagement appears to be an important construct that lacks attention and a valid measurement tool. This paper aims to present the modification of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the most widely used scale developed for measuring work engagement, to measure family engagement. Two quantitative, cross-sectional studies were conducted in Lithuania. Study 1, a pilot study, confirmed good internal reliability of the newly modified 9- and 17-item versions of the scale and found a positive relationship with positive affect, providing preliminary evidence for construct validity. Study 2 confirmed the discriminant, convergent, and structural validity of the Family Engagement Scale. Based on the findings from exploratory graph analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, a one-factor solution for the scale was chosen as the best fit for the data. Strengths, limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.