The screen for caregiver burden.

The Screen for Caregiver Burden (SCB) is a measure designed to identify distressing caregiver experiences rapidly. The 25-item SCB, created specifically for spouse caregivers of Alzheimer's care recipients, provides scores for objective burden (OB; number of potentially negative experiences) and subjective burden (SB; appraised distress in response to the experiences). Three separate studies (total N = 191) demonstrate the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity (content, divergent, convergent, and criterion) of the scales. Finally, evidence suggests that changes in OB and SB over time are explained by changes in care-recipient functioning and caregiver distress.