Development and Validation of a Coping Scale for Caregivers in Malaysia
- Author:
Norhayati Ibrahim
;
Hui Chien Ong
;
Suzaily Wahab
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
coping skills;
questionnaires;
family caregivers;
schizophrenia;
Malaysia
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences
2017;24(3):83-91
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Introduction: Caregivers often experience stressful situations while in the midst of
the caregiving process. Thus, various methods of coping have been widely applied and studied
in previous researches. The aim of this study was to develop a novel questionnaire to assess the
coping strategies employed by those who provide care to patients, and to further validate it among
caregivers of schizophrenia patients in Malaysia.
Methods: This study, which involved the caregivers of schizophrenia patients from a
hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was comprised of three parts, namely in-depth interviews,
a pilot study, and the validation of the developed questionnaire, known as Caregiver Cope
(CgCopeTM).
Results: Part A originally consisted of eight themes, and it was later modified to
seven themes with four items each after discussions with some experts. Part B initially had
28 items derived from the seven themes in Part A, which were then reduced to six components
after a factor analysis. Part C of the questionnaire consisted of 19 items, with six components
(Distraction, Caring for patient, Venting, Religion, Recreation, and Social support) having a
moderate to high reliability ranging from a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.54 to 0.82. A factor
analysis showed that the six factors of coping accounted for 62.36% of the total variance.
Conclusion: The CgCOPETM questionnaire is suitable for use among caregivers of
schizophrenia patients. There is a need to further validate the instrument among caregivers of
other patient populations.
- Full text:P020170717386199940384.pdf
