Validation of the Verbal and Social Interaction questionnaire: carers' focus in the carer-resident relationship in supported housing facilities for persons with psychiatric disabilities (VSI-SH).

A questionnaire to measure the verbal and social interactions between carers and residents in supported housing facilities for persons with psychiatric disabilities has been developed. It is an adaptation of a questionnaire originally used in a forensic psychiatric setting. The aim of the present study was thus to investigate the construct validity and the reliability of this new version of the Verbal and Social Interactions questionnaire for use in supported housing facilities (VSI-SH). Two hundred and twenty-three carers from municipal and privately run housing facilities completed the questionnaire. A factor analysis was performed, which resulted in six factors. The number of items was reduced from the original 47 to 30 in order to minimize factorial complexity and multiple loadings. The reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha and good internal consistency for the questionnaire and five of the six factors was found. The resulting six factors and the items were compared to the conceptual model and four of the six factors corresponded well with the categories in this original theoretical model. The questionnaire can be a useful contribution to the study of interactions between carers and residents in supported housing facilities for persons with psychiatric disabilities.