Emotion and Symptom-Focused Engagement (EASE) for Caregivers

SASRQ is a 30-item self-report measure with a rating scale of 0-30 (total range 0-150) that assesses the presence and severity of traumatic stress symptoms. Higher scores reflect greater severity.

PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure with a rating scale of 0-4 (total range 0-80) that assesses the presence and severity of traumatic stress symptoms. Higher scores reflect greater severity.

SF-36v2 consists of eight scales yielding two summary measures: physical and mental health. It can be scored using both norm-based scoring (NBS) algorithms and the original 0-100 scoring system, where higher scores indicate better health status.

PHQ-9 is a 9-item measure with a rating scale of 0-3 (total range 0-27) that assesses the presence and severity of depressive symptoms. Higher scores reflect greater depression severity.

CSE-CSC is a 10-item scale (standardized score 0-100) of to measure the extent of self-efficacy of the caregiver when contributing to patient self-care in the complex care context. Higher scores indicate higher self-efficacy.

FACES-III is a 20-item measure with a rating scale of 1-5 that will be used to assess parent perceived family functioning. 10-items measure family cohesion and 10-items measure adaptability (range 10-50, respectively), with higher scores for each domain indicating greater connectivity or flexibility compared to disengagement or rigidity.

CEQ is a 7-item patient-reported experience measure with a rating scale of 0-4 that will assess the perceived benefits that caregivers experience in their interactions with healthcare providers in domains relevant to advanced cancer. A total score is calculated by summing the item scores where higher scores reflect greater perceived benefit.

FAMCARE-10 was developed to measure family caregiver satisfaction with the care of patients with advanced cancer with a rating scale of 0 (dissatisfied) to 2 (satisfied) where higher total scores reflect greater satisfaction.

CRA is a 24-item scale that measures the impact of providing care at the subscale level, with no overall summative score. Items have a rating scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with five subscales that assess impact on schedule (/25), impact on finances (/15), lack of family support (/25), impact on health (/20), and self-esteem (/30).The items in four of the scales (all except self-esteem) are generally phrased in a negative connotation such that higher scores indicate a more negative experience for that subscale.

ESSI is a 7-item scale used to measure perceived social support. The first six items have a rating scale of 1 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time) and the seventh is scored 4 for 'yes' and 2 for 'no'. Total scores range from 8 to 34. A lower total score reflects less support.

ECR-16 will be used to measure attachment security with a rating scale of 1 (disagree) to 7 (agree) with two subscales: Attachment Anxiety and Attachment Avoidance. Both subscales have a total score of 56 where higher scores indicate high attachment insecurity.

This 4-item subscale (items 1, 4, 5, and 9) will be used to assess expectation of the effectiveness of Emotion and Symptom-focused Engagement (EASE) in the treatment arm. They are rated from 1 (absolutely wrong) to 5 (absolutely right) and items 1, 5, and 9 are reversed-scored prior to summing all items (total score range 4-20) with higher scores reflecting more positive outcome expectation.