Negative Impact and Positive Value in Caregiving: Validation of the COPE Index in a Six-Country Sample of Carers

Abstract

The COPE Index is a brief, first-stage assessment of some sophistication that can enable health and social care professionals to develop appropriately targeted interventions to enhance the positive aspects of the caregiving experience and quality of support, as well as reduce the negative impacts of caregiving.

Reliability and validity of the COPE Index among caregivers of disabled people

“…loaded on the "Positive value" factor, except in the Swedish and Italian caregiver data, where it loaded on "quality of support" (Balducci et al, 2008). A similar loading pattern was found in a study of Finnish caregivers which used earlier Finnish version of the questionnaire (Toljamo, Perälä, & Laukkala, 2012).…”

“…Statistically significant correlations between the COPE Index subscales, especially negative impact, and criterion measurements have been as expected and have provided evidence on criterion validity (Balducci et al, 2008;Roud, Keeling, & Sainsbury, 2006). The COPE …”

“…The internal consistency of the quality of support scale was also acceptable without the fifth item, which in previous research has been found to load on the positive value component (Balducci et al, 2008). The internal consistency of the positive value scale was low with Cronbach's α ranging from .57 to .66.…”

“…A validation study of the 15-item version of the COPE Index among nearly 6 000 caregivers of elderly people from six European countries (Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and United Kingdom) revealed three subscales for caregiving with internal consistencies (Cronbach´s α) varying from .64 to .83 (Balducci et al, 2008). Statistically significant correlations between the COPE Index subscales, especially negative impact, and criterion measurements have been as expected and have provided evidence on criterion validity (Balducci et al, 2008;Roud, Keeling, & Sainsbury, 2006).…”

“…It was developed in collaboration with several European countries as a brief first-stage assessment tool to identify caregivers who may need supportive interventions of any kind (Balducci et al, 2008;McKee et al, 2003). In the COPE Index, a caregiver is seen as a partner and expert rather than a resource, and this holistic view of caregiving includes both perceived positive and negative aspects of caregiving in light of existing support (Nolan & Philp, 1999).…”