Dementia is a burden not only for the patients who experience it but for their families as well. However, nonprofessional caregivers rarely complain, and therefore, general practitioners (GPs) are often unaware of their problems. A concise instrument could encourage practitioners to assess them. This study developed the Short Sense of Competence Questionnaire (SSCQ) and assessed its validity and reliability in a study of 141 caregivers (mean age 63 yrs) of community-living dementia patients identified through GPs. To assess reliability, 3 previous studies were involved: caregivers of dementia patients (ME Fürst, 1996), partners of noninstitutionalized stroke patients (WJ Scholte op Reimer et al, 1998), and daughters caring for disabled older parents (MG Dautzenberg et al, 1996). Results show that the SSCQ is a concise measure with satisfactory validity and reliability. The data support relevant metric qualities of the SSCQ and satisfactory reliability in the 3 other studies; further research should particularly estimate the responsiveness in clinical changes over time.(PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)