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. 2021 Feb 22:7:2333721421997200.
doi: 10.1177/2333721421997200. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.

Validating the Psychosocial Functioning during COVID-19 Questionnaire among a Sample of Informal Caregivers

Trisha Arnold  1   2 , Zachary J Kunicki  1 , Brooke G Rogers  1   3 , Kayla K Haubrick  2 , Lynne Klasko-Foster  1 , Alyssa L Norris  1   2 , Megan M Drohan  4 , Mary L Greaney  4 , Steven A Cohen  4
Affiliations

Validating the Psychosocial Functioning during COVID-19 Questionnaire among a Sample of Informal Caregivers

Trisha Arnold et al. Gerontol Geriatr Med. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on global economies and societies. Although social distancing policies are needed to contain the spread and impact of COVID-19, they also impose a psychological and economic burden on people who are already experiencing increased distress such as caregivers. Yet, few measures have been developed and validated to measure the psychosocial impact of COVID-19. Utilizing item response theory (IRT), the purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically validate a measure of psychosocial functioning-the Psychosocial Functioning during COVID-19 (PFC-19) Questionnaire-to assess changes in social interaction, mental health, health behavior, and global functioning among a sample of informal caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analytic sample (n = 733) was recruited from Amazon Mechanic Turk (MTurk) (69% male, 55% white). Results suggest a two-factor measure, assessing global functioning (14 items) and affective response (8 items), with strong evidence for reliability, validity, and dimensionality. Future research should replicate this factor structure in other samples.

Keywords: COVID-19; caregivers; psychosocial functioning; questionnaire; validation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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