Comparison of caregiver responses to English and Hebrew language versions of an abridged Zarit Burden Interview

The provision of informal care to infirm family members is of central importance to social gerontology; concomitantly, caregiver burden is a topic of considerable research interest. To this end, psychometrically sound instruments are required to advance cross-national research. The current study builds upon previous research examining the reliability and validity of responses to a brief Hebrew language version of the Zarit Burden Interview. For this study, factorial validity of responses to this instrument is examined relative to a representative English Canadian sample of caregivers. Invariance analyses comparing English and Hebrew responses support a 2-factor model of burden (role strain, personal strain); furthermore, invariance analyses comparing responses indicate that caregivers interpret and respond to the majority of items in a consistent manner. This finding suggests reliable translation of items from English to Hebrew. Caregiver burden is discussed in the context of changing demographics and the growing prevalence of disorders affecting older adults.