Development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the caregiver burden scale for parents of children who stutter (CBS-PCWS)

Caring for a child who stutters can impose excessive pressure on parents. Caregiver burden affects many aspects of parents' lives. Paying attention to parents in the treatment of children who stutter (CWS) is important because parents play a key role in the treatment of CWS. The aim of the study was to develop the Caregiver Burden Scale for Parents of Children Who Stutter (CBS-PCWS) and investigate the psychometric properties of the CBS-PCWS. The CBS-PCWS was developed using interviews with 15 parents of CWS and a literature review. The content validity, face validity, construct validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and reliability of the CBS-PCWS were investigated. The content validity was evaluated using 10 experts’ opinions. Face validity was determined using interviews with 10 parents of CWS. The reliability of the CBS-PCWS was evaluated through internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The scale development resulted in the creation of 137 items. During an expert panel with the presence of the research team, 51 similar items were eliminated. During the qualitative content validity stage, nine items were added to the initial scale. After determining the content and face validity, the number of CBS-PCWS items was reduced to 52 items. In the construct validity stage using EFA with responses from 364 parents, eight items of the CBS-PCWS were removed due to low factor loadings. The results of the EFA indicated that the CBS-PCWS contained five factors: psychological and emotional, personal and physical, support for caregiving, culpability, and socio-communicative. The Cronbach's alpha values of the scale domains were in the 0.78–0.94 range. In addition, the ICC test-retest coefficient for the total score of the CBS-PCWS was 0.93 and for its domains was in 0.91–0.99 range. The CBS-PCWS has 44 items with five domains and is a valid and reliable scale that can be used for clinical or research purposes. More studies are required to evaluate further psychometric properties of the CBS-PCWS. ●The Caregiver Burden Scale for Parents of Children Who Stutter (CBS-PCWS) developed.●The CBS-PCWS developed based on semi-structured interviews with parents of CWS and reviewing the literatures.●Validity of the CBS-PCWS evaluated using content validity, face validity, and construct validity using factor analysis.●Reliability of the CBS-PCWS determined using internal consistency and test-retest reliability.