Measuring grief in caregivers of persons with acquired brain injury

Primary objective: To investigate the psychometric and validity properties and applicability of a modified version of the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MM-CGI) for use with caregivers of patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). Research design: Replicate Marwit and Meuser's original psychometric study assessing grief in caregivers of dementia patients. Methods and procedures: The MM-CGI was administered to 28 ABI caregivers along with standardized measures of caregiver strain, depression, well-being and family support. Main outcomes and results: Results for ABI caregivers were similar to those for dementia caregivers with the instrument demonstrating excellent internal consistency reliability for total and sub-scale grief scores and strong divergent validity. Results also parallel those of a recent study of cancer caregivers. Conclusions: The MM-CGI is as useful for diagnosing and treating grief in ABI caregivers as it is for those caring for persons with other serious illnesses.