Introduction

The Family Burden Scale (FBS-23) is a psychometric instrument developed to assess the burden experienced by family members who provide care and support to individuals living with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or mental health conditions. Family caregivers often face substantial emotional, physical, social, and financial challenges that can significantly affect their quality of life, psychological well-being, and overall family functioning. As the prevalence of chronic diseases and long-term care needs continues to increase worldwide, the systematic assessment of caregiver burden has become an essential component of clinical practice, health services research, and psychosocial intervention planning. The FBS-23 provides healthcare professionals and researchers with a standardized approach for identifying caregiving-related difficulties and evaluating the multidimensional impact of long-term caregiving responsibilities.

Description

The Family Burden Scale evaluates multiple dimensions of caregiver burden, offering a comprehensive assessment of the challenges experienced by family members who provide ongoing care. The instrument examines emotional distress associated with caregiving responsibilities, physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged care demands, disruptions in social relationships and daily activities, and the financial consequences that frequently accompany long-term caregiving. By simultaneously assessing these interconnected domains, the FBS-23 provides a holistic understanding of the caregiving experience and identifies areas in which caregivers may require additional psychological, social, or practical support. The scale has become an important assessment tool in clinical settings because caregiver burden is strongly associated with increased stress, anxiety, depression, reduced quality of life, and diminished physical health among family caregivers.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

The Family Burden Scale generates standardized quantitative data that enable researchers and healthcare professionals to evaluate the overall burden experienced by family caregivers and to investigate the multiple factors contributing to caregiver stress. The instrument is widely used to examine the relationships between caregiver burden and psychological distress, depression, anxiety, caregiver resilience, coping strategies, family functioning, quality of life, and social support. It also facilitates the evaluation of healthcare services, caregiver support programs, psychoeducational interventions, and community-based care initiatives. Because the FBS-23 produces reliable psychometric data, it is appropriate for descriptive statistical analyses, reliability assessment using Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA), correlation analysis, multiple regression, mediation and moderation analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), multivariate statistical procedures, longitudinal analyses, and cross-cultural validation studies. These analytical approaches allow researchers to investigate both the psychometric properties of the instrument and the complex relationships between caregiver burden and physical, psychological, and social outcomes.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Family Burden Scale is to provide a reliable and comprehensive assessment of the burden experienced by family caregivers during the provision of long-term care for individuals with chronic or severe health conditions. The instrument enables healthcare professionals to identify emotional, physical, social, and financial difficulties affecting caregivers, thereby supporting the development of individualized care plans and targeted psychosocial interventions. The findings obtained through the FBS-23 contribute to improving caregivers’ quality of life, enhancing family well-being, optimizing healthcare planning, and promoting evidence-based support services for families facing the challenges of long-term caregiving.

Scoring

The Family Burden Scale consists of twenty-three items completed by family members who provide care or support to individuals with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or mental health conditions. Participants respond to each statement using a Likert-type response scale that reflects the extent to which each item represents their personal caregiving experience. Individual item scores are combined to generate an overall caregiver burden score, while separate domain scores may also be calculated when supported by the official scoring protocol. Higher scores indicate greater levels of caregiver burden and increased emotional, physical, social, or financial strain associated with caregiving responsibilities. Lower scores reflect reduced caregiving burden and better overall adjustment to caregiving demands. Interpretation of the results should follow the official administration and scoring guidelines and be supported by available psychometric evidence and normative data whenever available.

Applications

The Family Burden Scale is extensively used in clinical psychology, psychiatry, nursing, rehabilitation medicine, gerontology, social work, public health, and caregiver research. The instrument is frequently applied in hospitals, mental health services, rehabilitation centers, chronic disease management programs, community healthcare settings, and family counseling services to evaluate caregiver burden and identify families requiring additional support. It has also been widely employed in studies investigating caregiving outcomes among families of individuals with chronic medical conditions, neurological disorders, dementia, disabilities, and severe mental illnesses. Furthermore, the FBS-23 serves as an important outcome measure for evaluating the effectiveness of psychosocial support programs, caregiver education initiatives, and family-centered interventions. Owing to its multidimensional approach and strong applicability across healthcare settings, the Family Burden Scale has become an essential instrument for understanding the caregiving experience and supporting evidence-based strategies that improve both caregiver well-being and the quality of care provided to individuals with long-term health needs.