570378

research-article2015

CRE0010.1177/0269215515570378Clinical RehabilitationKruithof et al.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION

Article

Measuring negative and positive caregiving experiences: A psychometric analysis of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded

Clinical Rehabilitation 1­–10 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269215515570378 cre.sagepub.com

Willeke J Kruithof, Marcel WM Post and Johanna MA Visser-Meily

Abstract Objective: To compare the psychometric properties of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded with those of the original Caregiver Strain Index among partners of stroke patients. Design and subjects: Cross-sectional validation study among 173 caregivers of stroke patients six months post-stroke. Main measures: Outcome measure: Caregiver Strain Index Expanded. Reference measures: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, two questions on life satisfaction, Barthel Index and Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Additionally, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Results: Neither the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded nor the original Caregiver Strain Index showed floor or ceiling effects. The sum score of the positive items showed a ceiling effect and was skewed to the right (2.20). Principal component analysis revealed no clear underlying item clustering. Alpha values of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded and the original Caregiver Strain Index were good (0.82 and 0.83), but the alpha value of the positive subscale of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded was too low (0.51). Convergent validity was confirmed for the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded, the original Caregiver Strain Index and the positive subscale. The Caregiver Strain Index Expanded and the original Caregiver Strain Index showed nearly identical correlations with the reference measures. Negative caregiving experiences were more strongly related to partners’ mood and life satisfaction than positive caregiving experiences. In the regression analyses, the positive subscale showed little added value in predicting partners’ mood and life satisfaction. Conclusion: The addition of five positively phrased items does not improve the psychometric properties of the Caregiver Strain Index. Keywords Stroke, caregivers, mood, life satisfaction, psychometrics, validation studies Received: 22 May 2014; accepted: 15 December 2014 Brain Center Rudolf Magnus and Center of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht and De Hoogstraat Rehabilitation, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Corresponding author: Johanna MA Visser-Meily, University Medical Center Utrecht, Huispost W 01.121, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands. Email: [email protected]

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Introduction Although most patients survive the acute phase of a stroke, many of them remain more or less physically or cognitively impaired and need help from professional and/or family caregivers to perform activities of daily living.1,2 Caring for a family member takes time and physical and emotional effort and can be burdensome, resulting in feelings of depression1–5 and a decreased quality of life.2,6–8 In recent years however, there is growing awareness of positive experiences associated with caregiving.9–11 Research showed that negative and positive caregiving experiences can co-exist, and positive experiences can even compensate or buffer the negative effects of caregiving on life satisfaction.11,12 Several measurement instruments have been developed that include items on both negative and positive experiences of caregivers.13–17 One of these is the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded, in which the original Caregiver Strain Index18 is enlarged with five additional items to assess the positive aspects of caregiving (Appendix 1, available online). The Caregiver Strain Index Expanded is a recently developed measure, which is potentially very relevant, as the Caregiver Strain Index18 is the most frequently used questionnaire to measure caregiver burden. In stroke research,19 it has good reproducibility20 and validity,19,21 and it is recommended in the Dutch stroke care guidelines.22–24 An initial validation study of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded found good feasibility and validity for caregivers who applied for support.17 Until now, however, the added value of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded over the Caregiver Strain Index to assess caregiving experiences has not been established in caregivers of patients with stroke. We therefore tested the hypotheses that (1) the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded would also have good validity in the stroke population and (2) that the more comprehensive measurement of caregiving experiences would mean that the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded is more strongly correlated with reference measures of caregivers’ mood and life satisfaction than the Caregiver Strain Index.

Methods Participants Participants in the current analysis were the partners of stroke patients included in the Restore4Stroke Cohort Study, who completed the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded at six months post-stroke.25 Six general Dutch hospitals participated and stroke patients were recruited between March 2011 and March 2013. The patients were included in the study within seven days after suffering a clinically confirmed ischemic or intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke. Partners of these stroke patients were included if they were married to the patient or in a steady relationship with them. Exclusion criteria for patients and partners were: (1) age 0.4. The positive items are shown in bold.

Care is important

Happy to care

Item 18

Item 14





Component Pattern

Component Pattern Matrix

Table 4.  Principal component analyses of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded (N = 173).

−0.14

0.18

0.49

0.85

0.82

Component 1



























0.85

0.70

0.04

−0.09

0.05

Component 2

Positive subscale of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded

Component Pattern

Kruithof et al. 7

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Clinical Rehabilitation 

Table 5.  Convergent validity (N = 173).

Partner  Mood   Life satisfaction Patient   Dependency in activities of daily living   Cognitive impairments

Caregiver Strain Index Expanded

Caregiver Strain Index (original)

0.60** −0.60**

0.58** −0.58**

−0.24** −0.09

−0.26** −0.10

Positive subscale of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded   0.27** −0.28**   −0.01 −0.05

Note: Regression coefficients calculated by Spearman correlations. **p 

Measuring negative and positive caregiving experiences: a psychometric analysis of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded.

To compare the psychometric properties of the Caregiver Strain Index Expanded with those of the original Caregiver Strain Index among partners of stro...
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