[Caregiver's health: adaption and validation in a Spanish population of the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI)].

Objective: To adapt and to validate the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI) in a Spanish population, providing empirical evidence of its internal consistency, internal structure and validity.

Method: Psychometric validation of the adapted version of the ECI. One hundred and seventy-two caregivers (69.2% women), mean age 57.51 years (range: 21-89) participated. Demographic and clinical data, standardized measures (ECI, suffering scale of SCL-90-R, Zarit burden scale) were used. The two scales of negative evaluation of the ECI most related to serious mental disorders (disruptive behaviours [DB] and negative symptoms [NS]) and the two scales of positive appreciation (positive personal experiences [PPE], and good aspects of the relationship [GAR]) were analyzed. Exploratory structural equation modelling was used to analyze the internal structure. The relationship between the ECI scales and the SCL-90-R and Zarit scores was also studied.

Results: The four-factor model presented a good fit. Cronbach's alpha (DB: 0.873; NS: 0.825; PPE: 0.720; GAR: 0.578) showed a higher homogeneity in the negative scales. The SCL-90-R scores correlated with the negative ECI scales, and none of the ECI scales correlated with the Zarit scale.

Conclusions: The Spanish version of the ECI can be considered a valid, reliable, understandable and feasible self-report measure for its administration in the health and community context.