Compass for Care: A Theory-driven Mobile Solution to Promote Well-being Among Caregivers of Individuals With ADRD

Developed from the 29 and 22-item versions, this shortened 12-item Zarit Burden Interview measure assesses subjective burden among caregivers of individuals with dementia. Caregivers are asked to rate items (e.g., Do you feel… that your health has suffered because of your involvement with your relative?) on a 5-point scale with 0 = never to 4 = nearly always. Cronbach's alpha is .88.

Depression is being assessed using the PHQ-9, which asks the number of days in the past two weeks the respondent had experienced each of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) symptoms of depression, minus suicidality. Response options are 0 = Not at all, 1 = Several days, 2 = More than half the days, and 3 = Nearly every day. Scores are summed to produce a total score, and a PHQ-9 cutpoint ≥ 10 is used to define moderate to severe depression. Both depression symptoms (i.e., total score) and prevalence of current depression (score > 10) will be examined in this study.

Developed by ProChange, this 3-item survey assesses three key drivers of resilience: mindset, meaning, and social connections. Items are rated on a 5-point scale with 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = almost always. Cronbach's alpha is .81.

The WHO-5 is a widely used measure that assesses well-being. Respondents are asked to rate five items (e.g., I have felt calm and relaxed) in relation to how they've felt over the last two weeks. Responses range on a 6-point scale from 0=At no time to 5=All of the time.

Originally developed in 1983, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) includes 10 items (e.g., In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life) focused on varied situations. Respondents rate the items on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 = never to 4 = very often.

This measure of well-being assesses factors associated with increased risk for adverse emotional and physical outcomes among caregivers. Caregivers are asked to rate 13 items (e.g., ability to manage day to day) on a 5- point scale with 1 = became much worse to 5 = improved a lot over the past month. Negatively worded items are reversed scored and an overall measure mean is computed. Cronbach's alpha is .88.

In its World Poll administered in 150 countries, Gallup, Inc. uses the 2-item Cantril Self-Anchoring Scale and a simple scoring algorithm to assess subjective well-being. Respondents are asked to rate their current life-and then to rate their future life, "say about five years from now"-on a ladder where 0 represents the worst possible life and 10 best possible life. Individuals who rate their current life a "7" or higher AND their future life an "8" or higher are classified as "thriving." Individuals who rate their current and future lives a "4" or lower are classified as "suffering." All others are "struggling." Previous research has shown that those classified as thriving experience less depressive symptoms, higher physical and emotional health and have fewer health risk behaviors than those in struggling and suffering.