Caregiver assessment of socioemotional functioning in people living with neurodegenerative disease (Part 2): Concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of a new measure.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Care recipients with neurodegenerative disease can have socioemotional impairments that are challenging for their caregivers. We examine the concurrent and incremental validity of a novel informant-rated measure of care recipient functioning, the Caregiver Assessment of Socioemotional Functioning (CASEF), by examining links with clinician-rated behavioral problems, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and disease severity, as well as caregivers' reported burden and relationship quality. We also examine test-retest reliability of the CASEF.

Research design and methods: Informal caregivers (N=177) of individuals with neurodegenerative disease reported on their care recipients' socioemotional functioning and completed structured interviews with clinicians to assess care recipients' disease severity and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Care recipients' behavioral symptoms were evaluated with clinician rating scales. Another sample of caregivers (N=61) repeated the CASEF four to six months following an initial administration.

Results: CASEF subscales evidenced concurrent validity with other measures of care recipients' socioemotional functioning, disease severity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and behavioral symptoms. CASEF subscales also evidenced incremental validity by accounting for significant additional variance in caregiver burden and relationship quality after accounting for care recipients' neuropsychiatric and behavioral symptoms. Finally, CASEF subscales demonstrated adequate to excellent test-retest reliability.

Discussion and implications: Findings highlight the validity and reliability of the CASEF. Coupled with findings from Part 1 of this series (which established CASEF's construct validity), these findings support using the CASEF in clinical and research settings to assess changes in care recipient socioemotional functioning over time and to examine links between care recipient socioemotional changes and caregiver burden, health, and well-being.