Preliminary reliability and validity testing of a Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Chinese Family Caregivers

Abstract Objectives: To develop and test preliminary reliability and validity of a Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Chinese Family Caregivers (SEQCFC). Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 196 family caregivers (CGs) of people with dementia (CGs) was conducted to determine the factor structure of a SEQCFC of people with dementia. Following factor analyses, preliminary testing was performed, including internal consistency, 4-week test-retest reliability, and construct and convergent validity. Results: Factor analyses with direct oblimin rotation were performed. Eight items were removed and five subscales (self-efficacy for gathering information about treatment, symptoms and health care; obtaining support; responding to behaviour disturbances; managing household, personal and medical care; and managing distress associated with caregiving) were identified. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the whole scale and for each subscale were all over 0.80. The 4-week test-retest reliabilities for the whole scale and for each subscale ranged from 0.64 to 0.85. The convergent validity was acceptable. Conclusions: Evidence for the preliminary testing of the SEQCFC was encouraging. A future follow-up study using confirmatory factor analysis with a new sample from different recruitment centres in Shanghai will be conducted. Future psychometric property testings of the questionnaire will be required for CGs from other regions of mainland China. Keywords: caregiversdementiaself-efficacy questionnaire Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge all the participants in this study. They also appreciate the assistance from the staff at the Neurological Institution of Shanghai Huashan Hospital. Notes *The SEQCFC is the standard Mandarin version scale. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001.