Accuracy of caregivers' recollections of caregiving hassles.

Despite their common use in clinical settings, caregivers' recollections of the hassles they face in caregiving have not been examined in previous research. Ninety-seven spousal caregivers of persons with dementia were assessed for 6 consecutive months concerning caregiving hassles and numerous other issues. A multi-pass rank order assessment identified the most stressful event in caregiving over each month-long interval. Each month via telephone interview, caregivers' recollections of the most stressful event in the previous month were assessed; no retrieval cues were provided. Of a total of 582 retrieval events examined, 378 (65%) were correct, 84 (14%) were incorrect, and 120 (21%) were not remembered. These data indicate that a majority of caregivers are capable of accurate recollection of caregiving hassles after a delay of one month following very careful ranking procedures, but also that individual differences in accuracy are present.