Families Coping Together With Alzheimer's Disease

(1a) Caregiver demand appraisals: 6 items from the 12-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) will assess caregiver appraisals of demands (e.g., That because of the time you spend with your relative that you don't have enough time for yourself?". Caregivers self-report aspects of burden on a scale from 0 (never) to 4 (nearly always; α= .86). Higher numbers indicate higher demands. Administration is 2.5 minutes

(1b) Caregiver perceived stress: 6 items from the 12-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) will assess caregiver perceived stress (e.g., "Stressed between caring for your relative and trying to meet other responsibilities (work/family)?"). Caregivers self-report aspects of burden on a scale from 0 (never) to 4 (nearly always; α= .86). Higher numbers indicate higher stress. Administration is 2.5 minutes.

The Brief COPE Inventory is a shortened version (28 items) of the COPE inventory in which respondents indicate how often they use a particular coping strategy under stress as ranked on a 4-point scale with 1 (I haven't been doing this at all) to 4 (I've been doing this a lot). Examples of items include "I've been using alcohol or drugs to help me get through it." and "I've been criticizing myself" (α=0.72, 0.84, 0.75 for emotion, problem, and dysfunction focused subscales). Higher scores indicate poorer coping. Administration is 10 minutes

The Relationships Inventory will measure the degree to which individuals perceive that they can rely on their parent or child for help and support when needed (e.g., "to what extent can you count on your parent/child for help with a problem?" "to what extent can you count on your parent/child to give you honest feedback, even when you might not want to hear it?"). Ratings will be made on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much; α=.79). Four additional items will assess the degree to which individuals perceive that their parent/child is a good support-provider (e.g., "overall, my parent/child is a good support-provider" using a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Higher numbers indicate higher relationship functioning. Administration is 5 minutes.

Health-related quality of life will be assessed using the 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12) version 1.0, documenting the extent of limitations in a number of domains. Higher scores indicate better physical and mental health-related quality of life. It has been used with both persons with ADRD and caregivers. Administration is 5 minutes. The minimum and maximum scores are 0 and 100.