Evidence of The Psychometric Properties of The Feelings of The Informal Primary Family Caregiver Scale

Objective: to analyze the psychometric properties of the Feelings of the Informal Primary Family Caregiver Scale.Methodology: This is a methodological, descriptive, and analytical study. The sample consisted of 115 informal primary family caregivers from a city in the south of Minas Gerais. The sample was a non-probabilistic convenience sample. The Information and Feelings of the Informal Primary Family Caregiver instrument was used, which consisted of two sections. The first section was entitled Information on the Caregiver's Daily Life and consisted of close-ended questions with only one answer option. The second section consisted of the Feelings Scale, containing 17 items and four factors, namely: Life and health compromises; Mental health compromises; Perspectives on providing care and Insecurities on providing care. Each item has five answer options, as follows: Never (5 points); Almost Never (4); Sometimes (3); Almost Always (2); and Always (1). The minimum score on the scale is 17 points and the maximum is 85. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of a Federal Higher Education Institution.Results: After exploratory factor analysis, the scale consisted of 17 items and four factors with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.8 for Factors 1, 2, and the total scale, and 0.6 for Factors 3 and 4. In discriminant validity, there was discrimination in the caregiver's daily information with the aforementioned scale (p= < 0.05).Conclusion: the Scale showed adequate psychometric properties for use in the Brazilian context, both in research and in care.