An initial validation of a new quality of life measure for adults with intellectual disability: The Mini-MANS-LD

Abstract

There is an appropriate increasing focus on the need to ensure the voices of people with intellectual disability are captured as part of assessing individuals’ quality of life; however, there remains a lack of a consensus on ways to achieve this. This article describes the development of a self-report measure of quality of life for people with intellectual disability, the ‘Mini-MANS-LD’, based on the concepts of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Following use with 33 individuals with intellectual disability, the Mini-MANS-LD was found to have acceptable psychometric properties, including moderate congruent validity and acceptable internal consistency. Administrators’ feedback suggested good acceptability and feasibility, and the measure was relatively quick to administer, easy to use and acceptable to service users. Despite a small sample size, this initial study suggests that the Mini-MANS-LD may present a conceptually relevant, feasible and acceptable self-report measure of quality of life for people with intellectual disability.