Development and validation of the Experiential Avoidance in Caregiving Questionnaire (EACQ)

Objective: Providing care to a relative with dementia is associated with negative health consequences. Experiential avoidance has been found to be related to caregivers' distress. However, no specific measure of experiential avoidance in the caregiving context is available. The aim of this stud...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging & mental health 2014-10, Vol.18 (7), p.897-904
Main Authors: Losada, Andrés, Márquez-González, María, Romero-Moreno, Rosa, López, Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acceptance and commitment therapy
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alexithymia
Anxiety
Anxiety-Depression
Avoidance
Blood pressure
Caregivers - psychology
Carers
Cognition
Dementia
Dementia - nursing
dementia care
Depression
Emotions
Family - psychology
family caregivers
Female
Humans
Interviews
Male
Middle Aged
Psychometric properties
Psychometrics - instrumentation
Questionnaires
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires - standards
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Summary:Objective: Providing care to a relative with dementia is associated with negative health consequences. Experiential avoidance has been found to be related to caregivers' distress. However, no specific measure of experiential avoidance in the caregiving context is available. The aim of this study is to develop and present the psychometric properties of the Experiential Avoidance in Caregiving Questionnaire (EACQ).Method: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 263 dementia family caregivers (mean age = 61.37; SD = 14.84; 78.3% female). In addition to the EACQ, the Action and Acceptance Questionnaire (AAQ) was used. Depression, anxiety, alexithymia, cognitive fusion, dysfunctional thoughts about caregiving, and mean arterial pressure were also measured.Results: Using principal component analysis, three factors were retained that explained 44.75% of the variance. These factors were labeled: (1) Active Avoidant Behaviors; (2) Intolerance of Negative Thoughts and Emotions Towards the Relative; and (3) Apprehension Concerning Negative Internal Experiences Related to Caregiving. Acceptable reliability indexes (Cronbach's alpha) were found for each factor (.63 for factor 1; .71 for factor 2; and .60 for factor 3) and the total scale (α = .70). Significant positive associations were found between the global scale and anxiety, dysfunctional thoughts, alexithymia and the AAQ.Conclusion: The EACQ shows acceptable psychometric properties and may be a useful tool for clinical assessment and therapeutic work with caregivers.
ISSN:1360-7863
1364-6915
DOI:10.1080/13607863.2014.896868