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Positive Aspects of Family Caregiving for Dementia: Differential Item Functioning by Race
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Positive Aspects of Family Caregiving for Dementia: Differential Item Functioning by Race

David L Roth, Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Jin Huang, Alden L Gross and Laura N Gitlin
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, v 70(6), pp 813-819
Nov 2015
PMID: 26033356
url
https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article-pdf/70/6/813/8080267/gbv034.pdfView
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

African Americans Attitude Caregivers - psychology Dementia - therapy European Continental Ancestry Group Female Hispanic Americans Humans Male Surveys and Questionnaires
Due to increasing interest in the positive experiences associated with family caregiving, potential demographic group differences were examined on the Positive Aspects of Caregiving (PAC) scale at both the item and scale levels. Family caregivers (N = 642) completed the PAC as part of their participation in the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH II) clinical trial. Multiple indicators, multiple causes models were used to examine potential differential item functioning (DIF) across demographic subgroups. Overall PAC scale scores indicated that both Hispanics and African Americans experienced more PAC than Whites. Two items with statistically significant (p < .004) and practically meaningful (odds ratio > 2.0) DIF were found for African American caregivers. After controlling for the underlying unidimensional construct, African Americans reported that caregiving gave them "a more positive attitude toward life" and enabled them to "appreciate life more" than either Whites or Hispanics. No instances of meaningful DIF were found between Hispanics and Whites, women and men, or spouses and nonspouses. PAC scores differ significantly by race. In addition, 2 items with meaningful race DIF identify content areas that are particularly relevant to the cultural experiences of African American caregivers.

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120 citations in Scopus

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Gerontology
Psychology
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
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