Measuring the Psychosocial Characteristics of Family Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients: Psychometric Properties of Nine Self-Report Instruments

Abstract

Researchers and clinicians have experienced substantial difficulties locating measures that are suitable for use within palliative care settings. This article details the psychometric properties of nine instruments designed to assess the following psychosocial characteristics of family caregivers: competence, mastery, self-efficacy, burden, optimism, preparedness, social support, rewards, and mutuality. Results are based on the responses of 106 primary family caregivers caring for relatives dying of cancer. Principal components extraction with varimax rotation was used to explore the underlying structure of each measure. Following the exclusion of complex variables, suggested components for most measures comprised relatively homogenous items, which were good to excellent measures of each component. Some components comprised only two items; however, Cronbach's alphas typically indicated moderate to high levels of internal consistency. Overall, the results of this study suggest that most of the measures analyzed, excepting the mastery and mutuality scales, can be recommended to examine the family caregiver experience and test supportive interventions.

Psychometric properties of the Caregiver Preparedness Scale in caregivers of stroke survivors

“…The definition of caregiver preparedness includes the caregiver's perception of their ability to arrange for services for the care recipient and handle emergent situations. Although the CPS was not developed based on a theory of caregiver preparedness, it has been used to measure caregiver preparedness in several caregiver populations such as caregivers for patients with cancer, 10,26 life-threatening illness, 27,28 coronary artery disease, 29 and Parkinson's disease. 12 Despite wide use of the CPS, to our knowledge only three studies have tested the factorial structure and reliability of the scale.…”

“…30 Researchers also tested the CPS for validity and reliability on caregivers of palliative care patients in two studies conducted in Australia and Sweden. 26,27 In the Australian study, they evaluated the factorial validity of the CPS with Principal Components Analysis and again, a single factor emerged from the analysis that explained 66.7% of CPS variance. Internal-consistency reliability, estimated with Cronbach's alpha, was also adequate with a coefficient of 0.93.…”

Caregiver resilience in palliative care: a research protocol

“…• The need to have adversity perceived as such (psychophysical danger) by an individual (Hudson & Hayman-White 2006). …”

Escala de Apoyo Social para cuidadores familiares de adultos mayores mexicanos

“…Dicha complejidad se ha traducido en diversas estrategias para operacionalizar el apoyo social que reciben los cuidadores familiares, encontrando en la literatura internacional autores que recurren al uso de instrumentos psicométricos diseñados para medir el constructo en población general (ej., ArangoLasprilla et al, 2009), emplean medidas generales de apoyo pero que son validadas en sus muestras de cuidadores (ej. Crespo & López, 2007;Hudson & Hayman-White, 2006;Marziali, McCleary & Streiner, 2010;Monahan & Hooker, 1997;Spaid & Barusch, 1994;Wilks, 2009) familiares y conjuntos de preguntas que no forman parte de una escala pero que exploran los contenidos de interés del investigador (ej., Lee, 2008). A pesar de los avances de esta área de investigación y con una situación social crítica, en México aún se carece de un instrumento que haya probado ser válido y confiable para medir el apoyo social entre cuidadores familiares de adultos mayores, razón por la cual el objetivo del presente estudio fue validar de manera confirmatoria la Escala de Apoyo Social en Cuidadores Familiares de Adultos Mayores (EP/ CFAM) en un contexto sociocultural mexicano.…”