Perceived Research Burden Assessment (PeRBA): Instrument Development and Psychometric Evaluation (original) (raw)

Protecting human participants requires consideration and minimization of the burdens imposed by research. Effective conceptualizations of research burden should include appraisals of indirect burdens depending on research duration, intensity, and invasiveness. Introducing the concept of perceived research burden, we developed, tested, and validated a psychometric instrument for measuring burden, using vignettes of research studies presented to research volunteers and family members. We found high internal consistency of the Perceived Research Burden Assessment (PeRBA), across research scenarios (Cronbach’s alpha .87 – .96). We demonstrated convergent validity by correlating research burden with likelihood for enrolling in a research study. Because perceived research burden was largely unrelated to perceived social support, we interpreted PeRBA as demonstrating discriminant validity.