Understanding challenging behaviour in older people; The development of the controllability beliefs scale

Carers' beliefs about the controllability of challenging behaviour have been shown to be related to their emotional and behavioural responses to such behaviour. This paper describes the psychometric properties of a new 15-item scale that assesses such beliefs. The scale has good internal reliability and a two-factor structure representing positive and negative beliefs about controllability. The negative beliefs about controllability sub-scale correlate highly with a wishful-thinking coping style but not with a practical problem-solving coping style. The clinical use of this scale is discussed.