Family Caregiver’s Anticipatory Grief—Clinical Interview: Psychometric Characteristics and Scoring Pattern

Abstract

This study describes the development and the preliminary validation of the Family Caregiver Anticipatory Grief Clinical Interview (FcAG-CI). This instrument, conceptually based in Adult Attachment Theory, evaluates Anticipatory Grief response patterns of cancer family caregivers; semistructured interviews were conducted in a sample of family caregivers in palliative care (n = 72, mostly women, adult children, or spouses, mean age of 52.37) and coded according to the rating guidelines. FcAG-CI, composed of eight domains, shows convergent and concurrent validity with self-reported predeath prolonged grief disorder symptoms as well as divergent validity with the Zarit Burden Interview. The tests for reliability suggest that it has reasonable consistency (Cronbach’s α = .750) and very good interrater reliability. Two factors were identified, corresponding to the two major sources of distress: traumatic and relational aspects of end-of-life caregiving. This instrument, allows the categorization of respondents in four different profiles (Avoidant, Adjusted, Traumatic, and Intense Anticipatory Grief), with clear implications for clinical practice.