Evidence of validity and accuracy for the Mindful Self-Care Scale-Brief among family caregivers of people with cancer in Brazil: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the evidence of validity and accuracy for the Mindful Self-Care Scale-Brief (B-MSCS) in Brazil among family caregivers of people with cancer. Methods This was a cross-sectional study with a sample of 203 family caregivers of people with cancer. The instruments used in this study were the following: B-MSCS, Brief Resilience Scale, and Brief Scale for Spiritual/Religious Coping. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out using the principal axis factoring method and direct oblimin oblique rotation, and confirmatory factor analysis using the robust weighted least squares means and variance adjusted estimation method and GEOMIM oblique rotation. The internal consistency of the latent factors was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Results The 6-factor model showed good fit to the data, with satisfactory reliability indices and adequate representation of the scale’s internal structure. The results that can support arguments in favor of validity evidence based on internal structure for the B-MSCS-Brazilian version (BR) relate to a 19-item version which, grouped into 6 latent factors, explained 46.47% of the variance. The factor solution reproduced 79.2% of the theoretically expected structure and 5 items were excluded. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the factors in the B-MSCS-BR ranged from 0.58 to 0.84. Positive religious/spiritual coping had a direct association with the B-MSCS-BR factors, with the exception of the Physical Care factor (r = 0.033, p = 0.635). Negative spiritual/religious coping was inversely associated with the Mindful Relaxation (r = −0.160, p = 0.023), Supportive Relationships (r = −0.142, p = 0.043), and Mindful Awareness factors (r = −0.140, p = 0.045). There were no associations between the B-MSCS-BR factors and resilience. Significance of results The findings reveal that the B-MSCS (19-item) is a valid, reliable, and culturally-appropriate instrument to examine the practice of mindful self-care by family caregivers of people with cancer in Brazil.