Development and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth

Purpose:To adapt the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth for use with Chinese children and youths, and to investigate its psychometric properties. Materials and methods:The Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth was translated into Chinese using a cultural adaptation process. Parents of 69 children aged 5-12 years with disabilities and 319 children without disabilities completed the questionnaires. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factorial structure, and known-group validity were examined using Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis andt-test, respectively. Results:We added and/or replaced activities with culturally-relevant activities in the Chinese version. Internal consistency was acceptable for most of the scales (0.55-0.86). Test-retest reliability of the summary scores was moderate to high (0.70-0.84). Data-model fit was confirmed in a one-factor structure for the participation scales and a two-factor structure for the environment scales. There were also significant differences in the summary scores between 65 gender- and age-matched pairs of children with and without disabilities on the school participation scales and all the environment scales. Conclusion:This study provides psychometric evidence supporting the use of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth to assess Chinese children's participation and environmental supports/barriers.