Development and Psychometric Testing of Quality Relationship Scale for Family Caregivers of People with Cancers

Abstract

A quality relationship between caregiver and care-receiver is an essential issue since it not only motivates the family to take on a caregiving role but also impacts all caregiving processes. Before this study there was no Thai instrument that measured this concept. This study aimed to develop the Thai Quality Relationship Scale for Family Caregivers of People with Cancer and test its psychometric properties. This paper focuses on the testing of the scale. The conceptual model and content domains were derived from a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews. The instrument was verified for content validity by three experts and examined for clarity by 15 family caregivers. The construct validity of the revised scale was tested by exploratory factor analysis with 220 family caregivers of persons with cancer from the central part of Thailand. Results revealed that the scale was composed of four factors and accounted for 54% of variances, including feeling of love, concern about disease and treatment, sympathy for suffering, and concern with daily activities. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the total items was 0.87, and each factor was in an acceptable range. This instrument has good construct validity and reliability and would help measure quality relationships for family caregivers of people with cancer in Thailand. Future research is needed to confirm its adequate validity and reliability in other groups of family caregivers. Nurses can use this tool and the newly proposed conceptual structure of quality relationships to assess, design, and test nursing intervention to support family caregivers to continue providing good care for their care-receivers.