Psychometrics of the Pearlin Mastery Scale among Family Caregivers of Older Adults Who Require Assistance in Activities of Daily Living

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of the seven-item mastery scale among 392 family caregivers of care dependent older adults in a tertiary hospital in Singapore. Item response theory (IRT) analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to assess the scale’s psychometric properties. Construct validity was assessed based on correlations between mastery and caregiver burden, depression, and quality of life. Data from the seven-item mastery scale showed acceptable reliability and model fit while IRT analysis showed that response categories were ordered but reflected poor fit for the two positively worded items. Without these two items, responses on the five-item version showed acceptable model fit and had acceptable reliability and high correlation with those on the seven-item version. Item responses on both the seven- and five-item versions show logical correlations with carer self-report on burden, depression, and quality of life. Further psychometric studies of the seven-item mastery scale are warranted. For practical applications such as caregiver screening during hospital admissions, the five-item mastery scale is fit for purpose.

Daily prediction of inpatient suicide attempts using routinely collected theory-driven data.

“…Our points regarding single-item measurement are likely to apply here as well. This item exhibited good psychometric properties in prior research using both item response theory and confirmatory factor analysis approaches (Chen et al, 2013; Eklund et al, 2012; Lim et al, 2022). The wording of this item is consistent with conceptualization in other well-validated scales.…”

Daily prediction of nonsuicidal self-injury among inpatients: The roles of suicidal thoughts, interpersonal difficulties, hopelessness, and affect.

“…A single item was taken from the Perceived Mastery Scale (Pearlin et al, 1981) to measure hopelessness, “In the past 24 h, I have felt there is no way I can change many of the important things in my life.” It was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not true for me at all , 7 = very true for me ). This item exhibited good psychometric properties in prior research using both item response theory and confirmatory factor analysis approaches (Chen et al, 2013; Eklund et al, 2012; Lim et al, 2022).…”

“…It was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = not true for me at all, 7 = very true for me). This item exhibited good psychometric properties in prior research using both item response theory and confirmatory factor analysis approaches (Chen et al, 2013;Eklund et al, 2012;Lim et al, 2022).…”

The differential impact of socioeconomic status indicators on values and self-mastery ( El impacto diferencial de los indicadores del nivel socioeconómico en los valores y el autodominio )

“…People in lower social classes consistently evaluate their potential to impact their lives as lower than those in higher social classes (reviewed in Sheehy-Skeffington & Rea, 2017). Measures of self-mastery and self-efficacy are widely applied as explanatory factors for health (Lim et al, 2022), education (Thiem & Dasgupta, 2022) and employment (Van Hoye et al, 2019) disparities across the socioeconomic spectrum. It is essential that as we interrogate the relationship between perceptions of one’s efforts as efficacious and social inequality, we not only recognize that it takes a disproportionate amount of effort for individuals lower in socioeconomic status to achieve the same ends as people with more resources (De France et al, 2022), but are also more cautious about broadly applying findings.…”

“…Las personas de clase social baja evalúan constantemente sus posibilidades de ejercer un impacto en su propia vida como inferiores a las de las personas de clase alta (revisado en Sheehy-Skeffington & Rea, 2017). Las medidas de autodominio y autoeficacia han sido ampliamente utilizadas como factores explicativos de las diferencias de salud (Lim et al, 2022), educativas (Thiem & Dasgupta, 2022) y laborales (Van Hoye et al, 2019) dentro del espectro socioeconómico. Es importante que, al tiempo que cuestionamos la relación entre la eficacia percibida de los esfuerzos propios y la desigualdad social, no sólo reconozcamos que, para alcanzar un mismo objetivo, las personas de bajo nivel socioeconómico han de realizar un esfuerzo desproporcionado en comparación con otras personas con más recursos (De France et al, 2022), sino que además seamos más cautos sobre la aplicación generalizada de los resultados.…”