Psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the "Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire" (CGQ-BR).

The "Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire" CGQ was originally developed in Spain and contains 22 self-report items covering the following factors: guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient, guilt about failing to meet the challenges of caregiving, guilt about self-care, guilt over feeling negative emotions while caregiving, and guilt about neglecting other relatives. Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of the CGQ. Methods: The sample was established for convenience, consisting of 153 family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease. The following measures were applied: a sociodemographic questionnaire, the CGQ, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Life Satisfaction Scale. An exploratory factor analysis was performed for analyzing construct validity to obtain evidence of validity with internal structure and external correlation measures. Results: The exploratory factor analysis identified five factors with 22 items, which explained 71% of the total variance. Criterion validity was supported by positive associations between CGQ-BR scores and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and a negative association with life satisfaction. Good to excellent reliability indexes were found for the total score and subscales. Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the CGQ-BR, when applied to a sample of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease in the Brazilian population, proved to be a valid tool for measuring feelings of guilt. The findings suggest that this tool can be used in clinical and research settings with caregivers.