PURPOSE To develop item response theory (IRT)-based item banks and short forms to measure stress and benefit related to caregiving for children, including children with epilepsy or other serious health conditions. METHODS Items developed with feedback from neurologists and caregivers of children with epilepsy were tested in cognitive interviews and administered to caregivers of children with severe epilepsy (N = 128), down syndrome (N = 143) and muscular dystrophy (N = 129), as well as a community sample of US caregivers (N = 322). IRT was used to analyze the data. Test-retest reliability was assessed using a two-way random effects (2,1) intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was assessed by a pattern of correlations with relevant constructs (stress, depression, anxiety, and resilience) and by the pattern of scores by known groups. RESULTS Caregivers of children with serious health conditions reported more stress and less benefit than the general sample. The final caregiver stress item bank (k = 19) and the caregiver benefit item bank (k = 13) were calibrated using IRT and centered on a sample of community caregivers representative of the US general caregiver population. Short form scores are highly correlated with full bank scores (r ≥ 0.98) and IRT reliability exceed 90% for most levels. Test-retest reliability was high (ICC > 0.92) for banks and short forms. CONCLUSIONS Results provide strong support for reliability and validity of the caregiver stress and benefit scores. Instruments are publicly available, flexible, brief, and provide reliable and valid scores of caregiver stress and benefit of caregivers of children with and without serious health conditions.

中文翻译：

---

华盛顿大学照顾者的压力和福利量表的开发和验证，适用于患有或不患有严重健康状况的儿童的照顾者。

目的开发基于项目反应理论（IRT）的项目库和简短表格，以测量与照顾儿童有关的压力和收益，其中包括患有癫痫或其他严重健康状况的儿童。方法在神经科医师和癫痫患儿的照顾者的反馈下开发的项目在认知访谈中进行测试，并给予严重癫痫症（N = 128），唐氏综合症（N = 143）和肌肉营养不良（N = 129）的儿童看护人以及美国看护者的社区样本（N = 322）。使用IRT分析数据。使用双向随机效应（2,1）组内相关系数（ICC）评估重测信度。通过与相关构想的相关性模式（压力，抑郁，焦虑和适应力）以及已知群体的得分模式来评估有效性。结果与一般样本相比，患有严重健康状况的儿童的照护者承受的压力更大，受益较少。最终照顾者压力项目库（k = 19）和照顾者福利项目库（k = 13）使用IRT进行了校准，并以代表美国普通护理者人群的社区护理者样本为中心。简短形式的分数与全部银行分数（r≥0.98）高度相关，在大多数情况下IRT的可靠性均超过90％。对于银行和简短表格，重测可靠性高（ICC> 0.92）。结论结果为看护人压力和收益评分的可靠性和有效性提供了有力的支持。仪器是公开可用的，灵活的，简短的，可提供可靠和有效的照顾者压力评分，并为患有严重疾病或无严重疾病的儿童提供照顾。