Theoretical and psychometric analysis of caregiver strain

The purpose of the study was to establish the validity and reliability of an instrument for the measurement of caregiver strain, the Parent Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (PCSQ), with data from 283 adult children who were providing care to a neurologically impaired patient. Principal axis factor analysis of data rotated to an oblimin solution revealed five well‐defined, first‐order factors that explained 59% of the total variance in caregiver strain. The five‐factors were interrelated with caregiver strain as theoretically predicted. Coefficient alphas for the five factors were in the range from .74 to .93. The findings provide beginning evidence of the adequacy of the PCSQ, and favor continued investigation into the theoretical and psychometric properties of the instrument. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.