Guilt after placement questionnaire: a new instrument to assess caregiver emotional functioning following nursing home placement

ABSTRACT

Objective: Guilt is a core feature of dementia caregivers’ experiences following placement. This study describes and validates a new assessment tool for monitoring caregiver adjustment after placement.

Methods: Forty-six items addressing ambivalence and guilt about placement were tested with 170 dementia caregivers (M age = 56.79, SD = 13.19; 69.4% female; 54.7% adult child).

Results: Using principal axis factor analysis, 10 items were retained that showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.92). Construct validity was established in a subset of the sample (n = 53) with measures of depression (r = 0.53), burden (r = 0.48), conflict with staff (r = 0.47), and well-being (r = −0.30).

Conclusions: This scale may be used to identify caregivers at risk for adjustment problems following placement and to monitor adjustment over time.

KEYWORDS:

• Caregiving and interventions
• coping
• mental health
• dementia and cognitive disorders

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Research Sponsor: This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (grant number AG026122, J. Davis, PI). Portions of this manuscript were presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America.