Knowledge and Interpersonal Skills to Develop Exemplary Relationships (KINDER): Pilot Study

Caregiving Relationship Strain

Relationship strain will be measured using the 5-item Strain Scale of the Dyadic Relationship Scale (α=0.69; Reamy et al., 2011). Respondents are asked to indicate agreement with statements such as, "The patient made too many requests," and may indicate Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, or Strongly Agree. The scale has a range of scores from 4 to 20, where higher scores indicate greater levels of relationship strain. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.

Time frame: Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).

Quality of Caregiving

Quality of caregiving will be measured with the Task Management Strategy Index (TMSI; α=0.74 to 0.81; McClendon \& Smyth, 2013). The 19-item TMSI was developed to assess caregivers' ability to manage their family member's functional disabilities. (Gitlin et al., 2002) Caregivers are asked how often they engage in strategies that support quality care. Caregivers indicate Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, or Always. Scores range from 19 to 95. Higher scores indicate higher quality of caregiving. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.

Time frame: Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).

Frequency of Psychological Elder Mistreatment

The investigators will use a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 to measure psychological elder mistreatment (MCTS 2; α=0.79; Straus et al., 2016). Items include behaviors such as insulting, swearing at, or yelling at a partner. To measure a range of psychological elder mistreatment behaviors, we will add three items: ignoring the care recipient (DeLiema et al., 2012), threatening to isolate the care recipient (Acierno et al., 2010), and talking about the care recipient as if they are not there (Conrad et al., 2011). To describe the severity of mistreatment (Burnes et al., 2017), participants will be asked to describe the frequency of each behavior, such that response options will include: None, Once, Twice, 3 to 5 times, 6 to 10 times, and More than 10 times. Scores range from 0 to 50. Higher scores indicate higher quality of caregiving. The outcome measure will use the average change score from baseline scores until the post-intervention survey.

Time frame: Change from baseline to post-intervention (within 2 weeks after the 9 weeks intervention).