title: Caregiving tasks in caring for an adult with mental illness and associations with adjustment outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Carers of persons with mental illness engage in many caregiving tasks and spend considerable time on these activities. This caregiving is of immense social and economic value, but often at a high cost to carers. Investigation of the specific caregiving tasks these carers undertake and how these may affect their adjustment has been neglected.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study examines: (1) the dimensional and psychometric structure of the Caregiving Tasks in Caring for an Adult with Mental Illness Scale (CTiCAMIS), (2) relations between caregiving tasks and various caregiving parameters, and (3) associations between caregiving tasks and adjustment cross-sectionally and over 12 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 114 carers of adults with a mental illness who completed questionnaires at time 1 and 12 months later (time 2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Factor analyses showed that the CTiCAMIS could be represented by a single dimension or three caregiving domains: instrumental care, activities of daily living care, psychosocial care. The CTiCAMIS factors were psychometrically sound and evidenced differential relations with most carer, care recipient and caregiving context variables, and were correlated with adjustment outcomes concurrently and over 12 months after controlling for initial adjustment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings delineate the key dimensions of mental health caregiving and show the differential links between caregiving activities and caregiving parameters and carer adjustment.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia. kenp@psy.uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Pakenham
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires