Preliminary Validation Of The Role Overload And Role Conflict Scales: Evidence from US and India sample

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to empirically determine the factor structure of the original Pearlin, Mullan and Skaff (1990) role overload and role conflict scales on Asian Indian caregivers of the elderly in the US and their counterparts in India. Although the scales of role overload and role conflict has been studied in the context of caregiving, very few have determined the measurement properties of these scales. Role overload has been defined as the felt difficulties in the fulfillment of role obligations. Role conflict refers to the challenges when caregivers have several conflicting roles that require immediate attention of the person. With a large proportion of elderly co-residing with their caregivers in India and a similar pattern emerging in the US it is important to know if the role overload and role conflict scales are reliable and valid. The present study is an attempt to fill this gap.

Methodology: Both scales were translated in Hindi and back translated in English and then pilot tested. The role conflict scale was administered to 150 Indian-Americans via telephone interviews in the southern part of US. The same scale was administered via face to face interview to 173 Asian Indians in a northern part of India. The role overload scale is measured as: 1) not at all 2) somewhat 3) quite a bit 4) completely; and the role conflict scale coded as: 1) not a serious problem, 2) a problem, but not serious, 3) serious problem.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis results supported the one factor in both samples. In addition the one factor showed high inter-item correlations among the items. Cronbach alpha for both scales in the US and India ranged from .82 to .89. Among the US Indian caregivers 41.2% of them had completed college degree. About 45% of US caregivers had a family income ranging from $50-70,000 per year. A majority of the elderly in the US sample required assistance in instrumental activities of daily living. In the Asian Indian sample about 75% of the women provided care for the elderly. The mean family income per month was Rs. 7000 (approx. $146). About 50% of the Indian caregivers had a college degree. Over half of the elderly (that were being cared for) were mentally confused or had behavior problems.

The results indicate that of role overload has a comparative fit index of above .94 for US and .92 in India. However, the CFI for role conflict scale for US is .87 compared to .94 for India.

Implications: Practitioners can use this short reliable and valid scale with caution till further validation studies have been conducted on Asian Indians in India and other parts of the world. Implications for further research are presented.

Pearlin, L. I., Mullan, J. T., Semple, S. J., & Skaff, M. M. (1990). Caregiving and the stress process: An overview of concepts and their measures. Gerontologist, 30(5), 583 594.