Development of an instrument to measure staff-reported resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM) using item response theory and other latent variable models.

OBJECTIVES: Although numerous studies have measured behaviors among individuals in congregate settings, few have focused on resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM). To our knowledge, there is no psychometrically developed measure of R-REM extant. The quantitative development of a measure of staff-reported R-REM is described.
METHODS: The design was a prevalent cohort study of residents of 5 long-term care facilities. The primary certified nursing assistant was interviewed about R-REM. Advanced measurement methods were used to develop a measure of R-REM.
RESULTS: The loadings on the general factor for the final 11-item scale were greater than those on the group factor except for the item "other physical behavior" (0.63 vs. 0.74), suggesting essential unidimensionality. Although the bifactor model fit was slightly better than that of the unidimensional model, the difference was trivial (bifactor comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.997, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.013, unidimensional CFI = 0.979, and RMSEA = 0.030). However, modest support was provided for use of verbal and physical subscales. The explained common variance statistics were 0.76 for the bifactor model compared with 0.63 for the unidimensional model. DISCUSSION: The development of this R-REM measure will help to advance the measurement and ultimately evaluation of interventions associated with this important and under recognized problem facing residents in long-term care settings.