Anni Wang’s research while affiliated with Fudan University and other places

Given the challenging circumstances of aging with disability, family caregivers (FGs) face significant strain. Resilience, however, is a crucial protective factor against adverse caregiving outcomes. The study thus aimed to determine the latent classes of resilience among FGs and examine how these classes are related to care burden and psychological distress. This was a cross‐sectional descriptive study that included 248 FGs in China. Latent class analysis was conducted to determine the classes of resilience exhibited by FGs. The study revealed four distinct classes of resilience: the high resilience class, high tenacity but moderate strength‐optimism class, moderate resilience but low autonomy class, and low resilience class. FGs with secondary caregivers and those who were older were more likely to be part of the high resilience class. Furthermore, caregivers in the high resilience class had significantly lower burdens, less psychological distress, and greater resilience. Therefore, family caregivers′ resilience can be classified according to characteristics; more attention should be given to caregivers who are younger and lack the support of secondary caregivers; and targeted interventions should be developed based on resilience classification characteristics.

Background The aging population in China is surging rapidly, and elderly individuals are at higher risk of multiple mental health issues. Improving the mental health literacy of older adults can help them recognize mental illness and adopt proactive measures, potentially improving their mental health status and supporting the goal of healthy aging. Objective To explore mental health literacy among older adults, providing a foundation for future interventions aimed at improving their mental health literacy. Methods Guided by the new conceptualization framework of mental health literacy developed by Jiang et al. the study involved 20 community-dwelling older adults from four communities in Shanghai who were selected through purposive sampling to participate in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was employed to summarize and extract themes from the data. Results The qualitative analysis identified three primary themes and eight subthemes: inadequate knowledge about mental health and illnesses, negative intentions and attitudes toward maintaining mental health and preventing mental illnesses, and health behavior to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders. Conclusion This study reveals significant gaps in mental health literacy among older adults, underscoring the necessity for multifaceted interventions. It calls for concerted efforts from individuals, families, and society to bolster mental health knowledge, challenge stigma, and encourage supportive behaviors. By integrating these approaches with the ‘Healthy China 2030’ policy, we aim to enhance mental health literacy for the aged.

Background The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) is the leading measure of burnout for all occupations. The MBI-GS9, the 9-item version of the MBI-GS, was formulated based on the MBI-GS and has been used for several years. However, very few studies have systematically tested its psychometric properties, and none have focused on care aides working in nursing homes who are susceptible to burnout. Methods Following the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, this study validated the MBI-GS9 among 3,765 care aides from 91 Canadian nursing homes, using data collected between September 2019 and February 2020 by the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) program. Results The Exhaustion subscale had good reliability with coefficients around 0.66–0.74. The Cynicism subscale had medium reliability with coefficients around 0.60–0.66, and the Efficacy subscale also had medium reliability with coefficients around 0.51–0.58. The MBI-GS9 was significantly correlated with various conceptually related constructs, such as health status, working environment, job satisfaction, psychological empowerment, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The MBI-GS9 had a three-factor structure in the full sample and showed equivalent factor structure, factor loadings, latent values, factor variance and error variance across different sex and age groups. Care aides with English as their first language showed higher latent values of the Exhaustion subscale compared to those with English as a second language. Conclusion Overall, the MBI-GS9 exhibited acceptable psychometric properties, but medium reliability of cynicism and efficacy subscales, for measuring burnout among care aides in nursing homes, demonstrating equivalence across sex and gender groups. When comparing across different languages or racial or ethnic groups among care aides, it is important to consider inequivalent latent values on Exhaustion before comparing scores on the measure.

Background The ProQoL (30 items) is a widely used instrument of work-related quality of life for health care workers. Recently, a shorter 9-item version of the ProQoL was developed and validated among palliative care workers. The ProQoL-9 consists of three subscales: compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and compassion fatigue (CF). Care aides (personal support workers, nursing assistants) are an understudied population in terms of their professional quality of life. It is critical to use validated instruments to measure their experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine the internal consistency and factorial structure of the ProQoL-9 among care aides working in LTC. Methods We used surveys collected by the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC), a pan-Canadian program that collects longitudinal surveys from the healthcare workforce in the LTC. We used TREC surveys containing information on demographics, characteristics of LTC homes (e.g., ownership model), and the ProQoL-9. Our sample included all care aides who completed TREC surveys in the province of Alberta, Canada, from 2020–2021. We examined internal consistency via alpha and omega coefficients. To examine the factorial structure, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) testing one factor, two factors (CF and BO together & CS), and three factor models (CF, BO, and CS). Results N = 760 care aides completed the surveys in Alberta. The majority were female (90.79%) and worked in general LTC units (55.29%). The Cronbach’s alpha results showed an overall α = 0.56 for the whole scale and adequate reliability of the subscales (α = 0.73 for CS, α = 0.68 for CF, and α = 0.75 for BO). The omega reliability results for all the subscales were ≥ 0.70, reflecting good internal consistency (BO = 0.77, CS = 0.73, and CF = 0.70). The three-factor model had the best goodness of fit values, reflecting an adequate goodness of fit (X2 = 165.82, DF = 24, X²/DF = 6.9, P < .0001, RMSEA = 0.08, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.89). Conclusions The ProQoL-9 is a valid and reliable instrument among care aides in LTC. The factorial structure shows that this shorter version of the ProQoL is rigorously designed and can be utilized by health service researchers in LTC.

Background The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) stands as the preeminent tool for assessing burnout across various professions. Although the MBI-GS9 emerged as a derivative of the MBI-GS and has seen extensive use over several years, a comprehensive examination of its psychometric properties has yet to be undertaken. Methods This study followed the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing guidelines to validate the MBI-GS9. Employing a combined approach of classical test theory and item response theory, particularly Rasch analysis, within an integrated framework, the study analyzed data from 16,132 participants gathered between 2005 and 2015 by the Centre for Organizational Research at Acadia University. Results The findings revealed that the MBI-GS9 exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity akin to its predecessor, the MBI-GS. Across its three dimensions, Cronbach’s α and omega coefficients ranged from 0.84 to 0.91. Notably, the MBI-GS9 displayed no floor/ceiling effects and demonstrated good item fit, ordered threshold, acceptable person and item separation and reliability, clear item difficulty hierarchy, and a well-distributed item threshold. However, the results suggested a recommended minimum sample size of 350 to mitigate potential information loss when employing the MBI-GS9. Beyond this threshold, the observed mean difference between the MBI-GS and MBI-GS9 held minimal practical significance. Furthermore, measurement equivalence tests indicated that the MBI-GS9 maintained an equivalent three-factor structure and factor loadings across various gender, age, and continent groups, albeit with inequivalent latent values across continents. Conclusion In sum, the MBI-GS9 emerges as a reliable and valid alternative to the MBI-GS, particularly when utilized within large, diverse samples across different age and gender demographics. However, to address potential information loss, a substantial sample size is recommended when employing the MBI-GS9. In addition, for cross-cultural comparisons, it is imperative to initially assess equivalence across different language versions at both the item and scale levels.