title: An investigation into the construct validity of the Carer Experience Scale (CES).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Carer Experience Scale (CES) is an index measure of the caring experience, focusing on six domains: activities outside caring, support from family and friends, assistance from the government and other organizations, fulfilment from caring, control over caring and getting on with the care recipient. This is an initial study of the construct validity of the CES focusing on validity in a heterogeneous group of carers in the UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CES was included in a cross-sectional quality of life survey conducted in a UK city in 2010. The survey included a number of questions about the characteristics of the carer, care recipient, caring situation and motivation for caring. Hypotheses regarding the anticipated associations between these contextual variables and the caring experience were developed and statistically tested.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven hundred and thirty carers fully completed the CES questionnaire. Associations between variables hypothesised to relate to the caring experience (such as recipient health and intensity of caring) and the CES were largely as expected, providing evidence that the CES captures the caring experience in a valid way. Most hypothesised associations were statistically significant in both carers of older and younger adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides early encouraging evidence for the construct validity of the CES instrument. Further investigation is required to examine the validity of the CES in specific clinical subgroups and to examine the responsiveness of the CES in detecting changes in the carer's outcomes over time.
authors.affiliation: Health Economics Unit, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, i.goranitis@bham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goranitis
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coast
authors.forename: Hareth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Janabi
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005380:Financing, Government; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005791:Patient Care / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000592:standards*; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult