International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease

Research Article

The Development and Psychometric Validation of a Comprehensive Measure Assessing Fear of Incompetence among Adults Who Have a Family Member with Dementia

Table 1

Items omitted from the FOI scale at each stage.

Items omitted

EFA

I will be unable to redirect him/her when he/she does not know where they are.

I will not know what to expect (e.g., what mood he/she is in when you enter the room).

I will not know when and how to touch him/her (e.g., hug him/her when we first meet up).

I will not know what reality he/she is currently in when trying to interact.

I will not know how to react if he/she behaves unpredictably.

I will not know how to deal with his/her mood swings.

I will not understand what he/she is trying to say to me.

I will be unable to redirect him/her when he/she wants to go home.

I will say something that will confuse him/her.

I will not know whether he/she likes to be touched or not (e.g., hug him/her when we first meet up).

I will not know what conversation topics bring back bad memories.

I will no longer know what he/she likes or does not like.

I will not be spending enough time with him/her.

I will say the wrong thing to him/her.

I will not know how to find out about and set up services for him/her.

I will not know what to say if I visit him/her alone, without a relative or friend.

I will not know what to do if I were to visit him/her by myself, without a relative or friend.

My interactions with him/her will be awkward.

I will not know enough about dementia to help in a meaningful way.

I will no longer be able to follow our regular routine.

I will not know how to assist a third person in the interaction (e.g., sibling, parent, friend) if my relative with dementia does not recognize them.

CFA

I will do something that will irritate him/her.

I will not know how to calm him/her down.

I will not know what to do to make him/her remember events from my childhood.

I will not know the causes of his/her dementia in order to prevent it from happening to me.

I will not have enough knowledge about dementia to communicate effectively.

I will not be able to detect the amount of physical pain he/she is in.

I will not be able to detect the amount of psychological pain he/she is in.

Note. Scale instructions read as follows: “Below are several concerns that people may have when interacting with their relative or family member who has been diagnosed with dementia. Using the rating scale provided, please indicate to what extent each of the following would concern you when interacting with a living family member with dementia.”