Abstract

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a short caregiving self-efficacy measure. The self-administered 8-item Caregiver Self-efficacy Scale (CSES-8) was developed to reflect components of typical caregiver-support interventions and to be practical for inclusion in future self-efficacy and caregiving research.We administered the CSES-8 in two samples: participants in an intervention for caregivers of persons with cognitive disabilities, and a voluntary on-line survey for caregivers of adults. We evaluated the completion rate, item-scale correlations, reliability, descriptive statistics, and preliminary construct validity of the CSES-8 in both samples, and sensitivity to change in the intervention sample.The intervention caregivers' sample (N=158) was 85% female (mean age=65 years). The on-line survey sample (N=138) was 90% female (mean age=78). In both samples, the CSES-8 had excellent internal-consistency reliability (0.89 and 0.88) and good distribution with sufficient variability to detect change. Test-retest reliability was good in the on-line sample (0.73). As evidence of construct validity, most hypotheses were confirmed in both samples. The CSES-8 was sensitive to change at 6 months for caregivers in the intervention program (p < .001).The CSES-8 is short, comprehensive with respect to common components of interventions to improve caregivers' quality of life, and sensitive to change. It can serve a useful role exploring mechanisms by which caregiver intervention studies work, and it can be helpful in examining whether self-efficacy mediates the effect of these intervention on various outcomes such as psychological well-being.

View details for DOI 10.1093/geront/gnaa174

View details for PubMedID 33146727