Caregiver's anticipatory grief in dementia: a pilot study.

Twenty-seven wives who care for their spouses suffering from dementia completed the Anticipatory Grief Scale (AGS) and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist--SCL-90-R. The alpha coefficient for the AGS was 0.84, indicating good internal consistency. The AGS was also positively and significantly correlated (p less than 0.001) with the depression, anxiety, and hostility dimensions of the SCL-90-R, demonstrating good validity. The study explores bereavement issues of spouses of patients with dementia and provides preliminary findings on a new instrument to measure anticipatory grief.