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A brief measure of predeath grief in dementia caregivers: the Caregiver Grief Questionnaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2019

Sheung-Tak Cheng Open the ORCID record for Sheung-Tak Cheng [Opens in a new window] ,
Duan Yang Ma  and
Linda C. W. Lam
Sheung-Tak Cheng*
Affiliation:
Department of Health and Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong Department of Clinical Psychology, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Duan Yang Ma
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
Linda C. W. Lam
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Sheung-Tak Cheng, Department of Health and Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong. Email: takcheng@eduhk.hk.
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Abstract

Objective:

The study of predeath grief is hampered by measures that are often lengthy and not clearly differentiated from other caregiving outcomes, most notably burden. We aimed to validate a new 11-item Caregiver Grief Questionnaire (CGQ) assessing two dimensions of predeath grief, namely relational deprivation and emotional pain.

Design:

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting:

Community and psychogeriatric clinics.

Participants:

173 Alzheimer (AD) caregivers who cared for relatives with different degrees of severity (63 mild, 60 moderate, and 50 severe).

Measurements:

Besides the CGQ, measures of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms, and care-recipients’ neuropsychiatric symptoms and functional impairment were assessed.

Results:

Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized 2-factor over the 1-factor model, and both subscales were only moderately correlated with burden. Two-week test-retest reliabilities were excellent. Caregivers for mild AD reported less grief than those caring for more severe relatives. Z tests revealed significantly different correlational patterns for the two dimensions, with emotional pain more related to global burden and depressive symptoms, and relational deprivation more related to care-recipients’ functional impairment. Both dimensions were mildly correlated with neuropsychiatric symptoms (especially disruptive behaviors and psychotic symptoms) of the care-recipient.

Conclusions:

Results supported the reliability and validity of the two-dimensional measure of predeath grief. As a brief measure, it can be readily added to research instruments to facilitate study of this important phenomenon along with other caregiving outcomes.

Keywords

dementiaAlzheimer’s diseasefamily caregiversburdengrief
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 31 , Issue 8: Issue Theme: Dementia Care , August 2019 , pp. 1099 - 1107
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2019 

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