Factor analysis of the Resilience Scale for Brazilian caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease

Background: Resilience is a dynamic process that acts to modify the effects of an adverse life event. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to test the construct validity of the Resilience Scale by employing exploratory and confirmatory procedures, and to investigate the relationship between caregiver's resilience and clinical status of people with Alzheimer's disease. Methods: A sample of 143 dyads of people with Alzheimer's disease and their primary caregivers were included. Results: The total Resilience Scale mean score was 140.3 (standard deviation [SD] = 16.289), ranging from 25 to 175, indicating a high level of resilience. Cronbach's alpha was high (alpha = 0.77), indicating excellent internal consistency. The mean of corrected item-total correlation coefficients was moderate. The Resilience Scale presented a four-factor solution with a well-defined structure: sense of life and self-sufficiency, perseverance, self-confidence and equanimity, and meaningfulness. Conclusion: The findings indicate excellent internal consistency of the Resilience Scale when used to evaluate psychological and emotional difficulties of caregivers, even though the correlations observed between the Resilience Scale and clinical variables were not significant for functionality, mood, awareness, neuropsychiatric symptoms, or burden.