Revised Relationship Quality Scale for Caregivers of the Elderly in India

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to determine the factor structure of the original Strawbridge Relationship Quality Scale (RQS), on Indian caregivers of the elderly. The RQS was administered to 259 caregivers in face-to-face interviews. The confirmatory factor analysis results did not support the 10-item, two-factor scale; however, analysis resulted in an 8-item, two-factor version of the scale. The revised two-factor version showed high internal consistency for the subscales. The revised RQS has preliminary validation on Asian Indians. Practitioners can use this short reliable and valid scale with caution till further validation studies have been conducted on Asian Indian caregivers. Further replications are needed. Implications for future research and practice are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• relationship quality
• Asian Indian elderly
• caregivers
• validity
• reliability

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Larry Thompson for his recommendations on the earlier drafts. This research was supported in part by a Research Infrastructure for Minority Institutions grant (RIMI). I would like acknowledge James Wiley, PhD, Program Director, Public Research Institute, for his comments.