AI Article Synopsis

  • Caregiver strain related to caring for youth with emotional and behavioral issues significantly impacts mental health disparities in Latinx families, but is often overlooked in research.
  • A study validating the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) with Latinx caregivers revealed strong structural validity and internal consistency, even after refining the item set.
  • Findings indicate that caregiver strain dimensions correlate with youth symptom severity and mental health service use, suggesting the CGSQ is a valuable tool for exploring mental health issues in Latinx communities, with a recommendation to translate it into Spanish for wider applicability.

Article Abstract

Caregiver strain or stress directly related to caring for a youth with emotional and/or behavioral problems may be an important and understudied cultural factor associated with mental health disparities among Latinx families. Caregiver strain is a highly relevant construct for research questions focused on the identification of youth's mental health needs, family-level impacts of youth mental health problems, and utilization of youth mental health services. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research on measures of caregiver strain and the psychometric properties of existing measures in Latinx samples. This study examined the structural and construct validity of the English version of the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) with a sample of United States-based Latinx caregivers of youths ages 6-18 (N = 598). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original three-factor model of caregiver strain was evidenced in this sample. Internal consistency analyses and a poor factor loading led to the elimination of one item. The factor structure held after item removal. Significant associations between each dimension of caregiver strain with youth internalizing/externalizing symptom severity and utilization of youth mental health services provided evidence of construct validity (i.e., psychological counseling, telepsychology, parenting classes). Results provide important evidence of the psychometric properties of the English CGSQ in a Latinx sample and support its use in future research aimed at unpacking mental health disparities among Latinx youth and families. Researchers should translate and validate the CGSQ in Spanish to increase the utility of this measure for research with Latinx families.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/famp.12986DOI Listing

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