Development and Initial Validation of the Transportation Support Scale

Abstract

Abstract Importance: Driving cessation affects older drivers and, possibly, also care partners (most of whom tend to be women). Although tools exist to assess the effects on family and friends of providing informal care to someone who needs assistance, no tool is available to clinicians that specifically focuses on the effects of driving cessation. Objective: To develop the Transportation Support Scale (TSS) to measure care partners’ responses—both negative and positive—to driving cessation and assuming transportation responsibilities. Design: We developed a list of 98 items to capture the impact on care partners of providing transportation to older adults who have stopped driving. In Phase 1, we pretested the items qualitatively with a small sample of care partners. In Phase 2, we reduced the number of items and examined several psychometric properties of the TSS with a larger sample. Setting: Community. Participants: Two convenience samples of care partners who provide transportation (Phase 1, n = 11; Phase 2, n = 66). Results: The initial pool of items was reduced from 98 to 22. The final TSS has an internal consistency of .88 (Cronbach’s α). Thirty-five percent of care partners’ scores fell above the middle possible score; these care partners were likely experiencing a high negative impact related to providing transportation after driving cessation. Conclusions and Relevance: The TSS demonstrated adequate preliminary psychometric properties. We need additional research to further evaluate the psychometric properties of the TSS (e.g., test–retest reliability). A fully validated TSS may be useful to clinicians and researchers. What This Article Adds: The TSS has the potential to help clarify the perspective of care partners as well as inform the development and evaluation of services for care partners who are providing transportation to former drivers.