Assessing occupational participation among justice-involved people 'with a personality disorder': Quantitative assessments and their properties

Introduction: There is little evidence for what influences occupational participation for justice-involved people 'with a personality disorder' living in community contexts, and no validated occupational participation assessments specific to this group. We assessed a sample of justice-involved people 'with a personality disorder' to ascertain what influences occupational participation using commonly applied assessments and evaluated their construct validity.Method: As part of a mixed-methods study, a purposive sample of 18 justice-involved people 'with a personality disorder' were scored on the Model of Human Occupational Screening Tool and Occupational Performance History Interview-Version Two scales. Mean scores were calculated per Model of Human Occupational Screening Tool (MOHOST) item and Occupational Performance History Interview-Version Two (OPHI-II) items and scales and compared to published data. Mann-Whitney U Tests were used to identify within-sample differences based on demographic characteristics.Results: Participants had low scores on MOHOST items and OPHI-II items and scales. Differences were identified compared to published data. Within-sample differences were most apparent in comparisons by employment status and ethnicity. The OPHI-II scales did not operate as intended with this population and recommended adjustments impacted its construct validity.Conclusion: Replication is required with a larger random sample. Integrating these data with qualitative exploration would further elucidate factors influencing occupational participation in this population.