. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Apr 1.

Published in final edited form as: Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2020 Sep 28;38(4):376–382. doi: 10.1177/1049909120960449

Table 2: Aims, Hypotheses, and Associated Measures.

Pre-bereavement measures collected at baseline, 14, 30, 90, and 150 days. Post-death measures collected at transition, 14, 30, 90, 150 and 180 days.

Specific Aim	Hypotheses (H) and Research Questions (RQ)	Instruments and Variables	Description
Aim 1: Determine the efficacy of the Caregiver Speaks intervention in reducing depression and anxiety among hospice family caregivers of PLWD.	RQ1: What is the effect of the Caregiver Speaks intervention on caregivers’ depression, anxiety (outcomes of interest)? H1a: Family caregivers receiving the intervention will report lower depression and anxiety (outcomes of interest), which is facilitated by higher social support (mediating variable) than those in the control group during active caregiving. H1b: Family caregivers receiving the intervention will report lower depression and anxiety (outcomes of interest), which is facilitated by higher social support (mediating variable) than those in the control group during bereavement. H1c: the intervention group, family caregivers with higher baseline depression scores will experience a larger reduction in depression compared to those with less depression at baseline.	Primary Outcome: Depression Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) Secondary Outcome: Anxiety Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Mediating Variables: Social Validation & Growth: Social Meaning in Life Events Scale –Social Validation SMILES-SV Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale Short Form (ISLES-SF) Caregiver Quality of Life Index (CQLI-R)	PHQ-9: a 9-item screening tool to capture presence of depressive symptoms.³⁷ Internal Consistency: .87³⁸ GAD-7: a 7-item screening tool and severity measure for generalized anxiety. Internal Consistency: .89³⁹ SMILES-SV: a 9-item tool for measuring social validation and meaning-making during stressful life events. Internal Reliability: .84⁴⁰ ISLES-SF: a 6-item measure that assess meanings made of stress during bereavement.⁴¹ CQLI-R: a 4-item scale that measures physical, social, emotional, and financial quality of life among active caregivers.
Aim 2: Examine the effect of the Caregiver Speaks intervention on grief intensity among bereaved hospice family caregivers of PLWD	H2: Bereaved family caregivers receiving the intervention will report lower grief intensity (outcome of interest) than those in the control group.	Secondary Outcome: Grief Intensity Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG)-Present Scale	TRIG-Present: a 13-item scale measuring present grief among bereaved individuals. Internal Consistency: .86^42,43
Aim 3: Describe how caregivers make meaning of their caregiving and bereavement experiences	RQ2: In what ways do active caregivers find meaning as reflected in their FB posts? RQ3: In what ways do bereaved caregivers find meaning as reflected in their FB posts? RQ4: In what ways does the social support in an online group facilitate meaning making?	SMILES-SV and TRIG-Present	Triangulation of qualitative analysis of photos, discussion of photos via Facebook Group, and interview transcripts with SMILES-SV and TRIG.