Validity of the Elderly Behavior Assessment for Relatives (EBAR)

Abstract

Summary: An Elderly Behavior Assessment for Relatives (EBAR), updating the GERRI ( Schwartz, 1983 ), was administered to relatives (or significant others) of 349 elderly persons, from 60 to over 80 years of age, living at home, in good health and without cognitive impairment. A trained psychologist administered subjects the Life Satisfaction for Elderly Scale (LSES), the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL), the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), and personally answered to an overall elderly behavior rating scale (RA). EBAR items were first examined. The more attractive and less discriminative statements were excluded. A principal components analysis was carried out on the remaining EBAR items. Three factors were extracted. After varimax rotation they were tentatively labeled: Everyday Cognitive Functioning, Depression, and Hostility. Factor-driven EBAR subscales were designed, taking into account simpler items in the factor matrix. Results provide evidence for EBAR construct validity. Everyday Cognitive Functioning is connected to the IADL and the RA scores; Depression is very highly related to the LSES; Hostility is weakly related to RA, IADL, and MMSE, indicating that the scale needs further investigation.