Table 1.
Brief descriptions of measures organized by construct for the traditional, longer-recall surveys that participants complete at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months in the Nuestros Días (“our days”): the daily experiences of Hispanic and Latinx dementia caregivers study.
| Construct | Measure | Description |
| Demographicsa | N/Ab | Basic demographic information, including age, gender identity, sex assigned at birth, native language, country of origin, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, education, employment, income, medical insurance, time spent as a caregiver, and relationship to the care recipient, as well as the following questions about the care recipient: age, gender identity, race/ethnicity, education, insurance, type of dementia diagnosis, and other chronic conditions. |
| Caregiving-related stress | BSDc [25,26] | Twenty items reflecting different domains of BSD (restlessness, mood, memory, care resistance, hallucinations and delusions, verbal and physical aggression, disinhibition, repetition, safety) with stress appraisals reported on a 5-point Likert scale. Items were adapted from several established instruments because they represent the diversity of types of symptoms rather than overarching conceptual constructs. |
| Caregiver burden | Zarit burden inventory-short form [27] | Twelve items on a 5-point Likert scale measuring dimensions of personal strain and role strain related to caregiving (α=0.88). |
| Noncaregiving related stress | Perceived stress scale [28] | Ten items on a 5-point Likert scale measuring perceptions of unpredictability, lack of control, and overload in one’s life (α=0.78). |
| Family stress | Family caregiver conflict scale [29] | Eight items on a 4-point Likert scale measuring caregiving-related conflicts between caregivers and other family members (α=0.93). |
| Financial stress | Financial subscale of the caregiver reaction assessment [30] | Three items on a 6-point Likert scale measuring caregiving-related financial strain (α=0.83). |
| Caregiver demands | N/A | Single item asking how many hours of care per week they provide to the PLWDd. |
| Relationship qualitya | Relationship closeness scale [31] | Six items on a 4-point Likert scale measuring relationship quality between caregiver and care recipient (α=0.90). |
| Coping strategiesa | Brief-COPE Inventorye [32] | Adapted scale with 14 items on a 4-point Likert scale measuring situational coping including strategies of avoidance, problem-solving, and seeking informational support at the personal level (α=0.83-0.91). |
| Social support | PROMISf social health SF [33-35] | Measures perceptions of emotional (4 items), informational (4 items), and instrumental support (4 items) on a 5-point Likert scale. |
| Social isolation | PROMIS SFg social isolation scale [33,34] | Four items on a 5-point Likert scale measuring perceptions of social isolation. |
| Emotion regulationa | Emotion regulation questionnaire [36] | Ten items measuring cognitive reappraisal (6-items, α=0.83) and expressive suppression (4- items, α=0.79) using a 7-point Likert scale. |
| Alcohol usea | AUDITh [37] | Ten items measuring alcohol use (α=0.83). |
| Cultural valuesa | Mexican American cultural values scale [38] | Adapted scale includes 36 items on a 5-point Likert scale measuring cultural values including fatalism, familism support, familism obligation, familism reference, religion, and traditional gender roles. |
| Acculturationa | Brief acculturation scale for the Hispanic population [39] | Four items on a 6-point Likert scale measuring acculturation in language use, media, and ethnic social relations (α=0.94) [40]. |
| Discriminationa | Everyday discrimination scale [41] | Nine items on a 6-point Likert scale measuring experiences of racism and discrimination (α=0.88). |
| Overall health | PROMIS global health scale [42] | Ten items on a 5-point Likert scale measuring overall physical and mental health. |
| Depressive symptoms | Patient health questionnaire [43] | Nine item–questionnaire on a 4-point Likert scale measuring severity of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation (α=0.86-0.89). |
| Anxiety symptoms | General anxiety disorder questionnaire [44] | Seven items on a 4-point Likert scale measuring the severity of anxiety symptoms (α=0.92). |
| Resilience | Resilience scale for adults [45] | Adapted scale includes 14 items on a 7-point Likert scale measuring resilience with 3 subscales (perception of self, planned future, and structured style). |
| Decision-making involvement | Decision-making involvement scale for individuals with dementia and family caregivers [46] | Ten items measuring the degree of a caregiver’s involvement in the everyday decisions of a person living with dementia (α=0.85). |
| Social media use habits | N/A | Six items assessing social media platforms of choice, duration of use, frequency of checking, and preferred device to engage with social media over the past 6 months. In addition, passive and active social media use are measured with questions based on SMAQi; (α for active=0.845 and α for passive=0.853) [47]. |
| Social media automaticity | Self-report behavioral automaticity index [48,49] | Four items measuring daily habitual behavior patterns regarding social media use (α=0.92). |
| Social media self-regulation | Bergen social media addiction scale, [50] the social media self-control failure scale, [51] and the generalized problematic internet use scale [52] | Three items from 3 different instruments assessing self-regulation abilities when using social media. |
aOnly administered in the baseline questionnaire.
bN/A: not applicable.
cBSD: behavioral symptoms of dementia.
dPLWD: people living with dementia.
eCOPE: coping orientation to problems experienced.
fPROMIS: patient-reported outcomes measurement information system.
gSF: short form.
hAUDIT: alcohol use disorders identification test.
iSMAQ: social media activity questionnaire.