title: Assessing informal caregivers' experiences: a qualitative and psychometric evaluation of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment Scale.
abstract: With the aim to evaluate the Swedish version of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment Scale (CRA), informal caregivers (n = 209) to individuals with a malignant disease, dementia or a physical impairment were recruited. The CRA was developed in the USA and is a self-rating questionnaire consisting of five subscales, measuring family members' reactions to the experience of caring for a relative with mental or physical illnesses. Data were analysed using psychometric and qualitative methods. Findings indicated good internal consistency, and a factor analysis confirmed the structure with five subscales; however, an overlap of items between the subscales was found. A content analysis of respondents' comments indicated that there were problems due to presuppositions inherent in the questions and with the meaning of words. Problems regarding inclusion/exclusion aspects in some concepts were also found. Two aspects of caregiver reactions were found to be missing or only partly covered: worrying and positive experiences. Results from this study suggest that the Swedish version is useful for assessment of caregiver reactions but needs further refinement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. carina.persson@ki.se
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wennman-Larsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gustavsson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D013548:Sweden