Development and Psychometric Validation of the Intensive Care Unit Caregiver Distress Scale

Family caregivers of intensive care unit (ICU) patients experience significant psychological distress; however, existing general caregiver measurement instruments fail to capture the unique stressors inherent to intensive care settings. This study aimed to develop a self-report instrument to measure psychological distress specific to ICU family caregivers, explore its core dimensional structure, and evaluate its psychometric properties.

The ICU Caregiver Distress Scale (ICU-CDS) was developed and validated in multiple phases, including item generation, content validation, and pilot testing. A sample of 313 family caregivers of ICU patients participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to identify and confirm the scale's dimensional structure and psychometric properties.

The ICU-CDS demonstrated a clear multidimensional structure with a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.72. Additionally, the scale showed satisfactory convergent validity through positive correlations with the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale.

The ICU-CDS provides a robust, contextually sensitive measure of psychological distress among ICU family caregivers. By capturing specific stressors unique to the ICU setting, this scale addresses critical limitations of existing general caregiver instruments and can be utilized to assess distress among ICU patient family caregivers.

Chivukula U, Subhadarsani K. Development and Psychometric Validation of the Intensive Care Unit Caregiver Distress Scale. Indian J Crit Care Med 2026;30(2):128-133.