Introduction: Family caregivers play a crucial role in supporting homebound patients, often experiencing significant psychological and physical burdens. Despite the importance of caregiver adaptation, a comprehensive assessment tool remains unavailable. This study aimed to validate the Family Caregiver Activity Questionnaire (FCAQ), which evaluates caregiver adaptation across three domains: caregiving state (sense of security, vitality), occupational experience (occupational empathy, occupational life harmony), and coping environment (emotional empathy, social support perception).
Objectives: The study examined the factorial validity of the FCAQ to establish its potential for multidimensional assessment of caregiver adaptation.
Methods: An online survey was conducted with 201 family caregivers (99 males, 102 females, mean age: 58.6 years). The FCAQ consists of 14 items for caregiving state, 19 for occupational experience, and 9 for coping environment, rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed to assess factorial validity.
Results: ESEM led to the removal of one item from caregiving state, yielding a two-factor model (sense of security: 8 items, vitality: 5 items, RMSEA = 0.095, CFI/TLI = 0.956/0.936). For occupational experience and coping environment, six items were removed, resulting in four factors (RMSEA = 0.057, CFI/TLI = 0.987/0.977).
Conclusion: The FCAQ is a valid tool for assessing caregiver adaptation. It can aid in identifying coping challenges and informing tailored interventions. Further validation is needed for broader clinical application.
Ethical Considerations and Funding: This study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Gunma Paz University (Approval Number: PAZ21-12). Additionally, this research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Project Number: 22K12935.