Table 2.

Characteristics of the items of the BBCS

Item summary	Mean (SD)	Item diffi-culty	Discrimi-natory power	p	Cronbach’s α, “if item deleted”a	Factor loadings on factor 1
1) I have gotten to know myself better by caring for XX	1.80 (1.14)	.51	.64	< .001	.916	.70
2) Through caring for XX, I have become closer to her/him than before	1.90 (1.22)	.50	.59	< .001	.918	.64
3) Caring for XX has helped me organize my time better	2.12 (1.26)	.57	.58	< .001	.918	.64
4) I have the feeling that I have become more mature through caring for XX	1.65 (1.33)	.46	.69	< .001	.915	.75
5) Caring for XX has helped me to adopt a more positive attitude in life	1.49 (1.26)	.41	.71	< .001	.914	.76
6) Caring for XX has helped me to act more responsibly	1.97 (1.36)	.52	.74	< .001	.913	.79
7) Caring for XX has helped me to become more patient	1.90 (1.27)	.51	.62	< .001	.917	.68
8) Caring for XX has helped me to be a more understanding person	2.00 (1.22)	.53	.70	< .001	.915	.75
9) Caring for XX has helped me to be more aware of what values are important in life	2.59 (1.27)	.67	.62	< .001	.917	.69
10) Caring for XX has given my life more meaning	1.48 (1.26)	.40	.73	< .001	.914	.77
11) Caring for XX has strengthened the bonds between our family members and circle of friends	1.80 (1.28)	.47	.58	< .001	.918	.63
Through caring for XX, I have met other caregivers who are important to meb	0.93 (1.13)	.28	.45	< .001	.922
12) Caring for XX has made me more self-confident in my relationships with other people	1.32 (1.22)	.38	.69	< .001	.915	.72
13) As a result of caring for XX, I feel more appreciated by other people	1.73 (1.24)	.49	.54	< .001	.919	.58
14) I have learned a lot more from caring for XX	2.40 (1.24)	.64	.64	< .001	.916	.69

SD standard deviation

p: p-value for discriminatory power

^aCronbach’s alpha (15 items) = .922

^bitem deleted for the final version of the BBCS