This study examines participation patterns and environmental supports and barriers for children with and without disabilities within their home setting.
Method:
The Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) is a newly developed, reliable parent/caregiver-report tool, which combines assessment of children's participation and the environment. The PEM-CY was completed online by 576 parents of children or youth (5 to 17 years old) with and without disabilities from Canada and the United States. ANOVA analyses were performed to examine group differences in PEM-CY summary scores. Item-level differences are presented descriptively using radar plots.
Results:
After controlling for age and income, significant differences between children with and without disabilities were observed for all home-based PEM-CY participation and environment summary scores. Differences between the two groups were also evident at the item level, particularly when comparing the percentage of children and youth who never participate in specific home-based activities and when comparing perceived barriers to participation.
Conclusion:
Although all children and youth participate frequently in home-based activities, those with disabilities tend to participate in less complex and quieter/sedentary activities. This, in addition to parental report of environmental barriers to participation, highlights the potential importance of home-based occupational therapy intervention to optimise participation in this setting.
BedellG (2009) Further validation of the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP). Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 12(5), 342–51.
2.
BedellGMDumasHM (2004) Social participation of children and youth with acquired brain injuries discharged from inpatient rehabilitation: A follow—up study. Brain Injury, 18(1), 65–82.
3.
BedellGMCohnESDumasHM (2005) Exploring parents' use of strategies to promote social participation of school—age children with acquired brain injuries. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59(3), 273–84.
4.
BedellGKhetaniMCousinsMCosterWLawM (2011) Parent perspectives to inform development of measures of children's participation and environment. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 92(5), 765–73.
5.
ColverADickinsonHParkinsonKArnaudCBeckungEFauconnierJMarcelliMMcManusVMichelsenSParkesJThyenU (2011) Access of children with cerebral palsy to the physical, social and attitudinal environment they need: A cross—sectional European study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 33(1), 28–35.
6.
CosterWLawMBedellG (2010) Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth. Boston, MA: Boston University.
7.
CosterWBedellGLawMKhetaniMATeplickyRLiljenquistKGleasonKKaoYC (2011) Psychometric evaluation of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY). Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 53(11), 1030–37.
8.
CosterWLawMBedellGKhetaniMCousinsMTeplickyR (2012) Development of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY): Conceptual basis. Disability and Rehabilitation, 34(3), 238–46.
9.
Engel—YegerBJarusTAnabyDLawM (2009) Differences in patterns of participation between youths with cerebral palsy and typically developing peers. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(1), 96–104.
10.
GallimoreRWeisnerTSBernheimerLPGuthrieDNihiraK (1993) Family responses to young children with developmental delays: Accommodation activity in ecological and cultural contexts. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 98(2), 185–206.
11.
GalvinJFroudeEMcAleerJ (2010) Children's participation in home, school and community life after acquired brain injury. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 57(2), 118–26.
12.
HiltonCCrouchMIsraelH (2008) Out—of—school participation patterns in children with high—functioning autism spectrum disorders. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62(5), 554–63.
13.
JarusTAnabyDBartOEngel—YegerBLawM (2010) Childhood participation in after—school activities: What is to be expected?British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(8), 344–50.
14.
KingGLawMKingSRosenbaumPKertoyMKYoungN (2003) Conceptual model of the factors affecting recreation and leisure participation of children with disabilities. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 23(1), 63–90.
15.
KingGLawMHurleyPPetrenchikTSchwellnusH (2010) A developmental comparison of the out—of—school recreation and leisure activity participation of boys and girls with and without physical disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 57(1), 77–107.
16.
KirkRE (1995) Experimental design: Procedures for the behavioral sciences, Vol. 3Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
17.
LarsonRW (2001) How U.S. children and adolescents spend time: What it does (and doesn't) tell us about their development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(5), 160–64.
18.
LaVesserPBergC (2011) Participation patterns in preschool children with an autism spectrum disorder. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 31(1), 33–39.
19.
LawM (2002) Participation in the occupations of everyday life. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 56(6), 640–49.
20.
LawMHaightMMilroyBWillmsDStewartDRosenbaumP (1999) Environmental factors affecting the occupations of children with physical disabilities. Journal of Occupational Science, 6(3), 102–10.
21.
LawMKingGKingSKertoyMHurleyPRosenbaumPYoungNHannaS (2006) Patterns of participation in recreational and leisure activities among children with complex physical disabilities. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 48(5), 337–42.
22.
LawMPetrenchikTKingGHurleyP (2007) Perceived environmental barriers to recreational, community, and school participation for children and youth with physical disabilities. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88(12), 1636–42.
23.
LawlorKMihaylovSWelshBJarvisSColverA (2006) A qualitative study of the physical, social and attitudinal environments influencing the participation of children with cerebral palsy in northeast England. Pediatric Rehabilitation, 9(3), 219–28.
24.
McConachieHColverAFForsythRJJarvisSNParkinsonKN (2006) Participation of disabled children: How should it be characterized and measured?Disability and Rehabilitation, 28(18), 1157–64.
25.
MajnemerAShikako—ThomasKChokronNLawMShevellMChilingaryanGPoulinCRosenbaumP (2010) Leisure activity preferences for 6- to 12-year old children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 52(2), 167–73.
26.
MallinsonTHammelJ (2010) Measurement of participation: Intersecting person, task, and environment. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 91(Suppl. 9), S29–S33.
27.
MichelsenSIFlachsEMUldallPEriksenELMcManusVParkesJParkinsonKNThyenUArnaudCBeckungEDickinsonHOFauconnierJMarcelliMColverA (2009) Frequency of participation of 8–12–year—old children with cerebral palsy: A multi—centre cross—sectional European study. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 13(2), 165–77.
28.
OrlinMPalisanoRChiarelloLKangLPolanskyMAlmasriNMaggsJ (2009) Participation in home, extracurricular, and community activities among children and young people with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 52(2), 160–66.
29.
RogoffB (2003) The cultural nature of human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
Shikako—ThomasKMajnemerALawMLachL (2008) Determinants of participation in leisure activities in children and youth with cerebral palsy: A systematic review. Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 28(2), 155–69.
31.
StevensJ (2002) Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences, Vol. 4. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
32.
Tamis—MondaCSWayNHughesDYoshikawaHKalmanRKNiwaEY (2007) Parents' goals for children: The dynamic coexistence of individualism and collectivism in cultures and individuals. Social Development, 17(1), 183–209.
33.
TsengVSeidmanE (2007) A systems framework for understanding social settings. American Journal of Community Psychology, 39(3–4), 217–28.
34.
WeisnerT (2002) Ecocultural understanding of children's developmental pathways. Human Development, 45(4), 275–81.
35.
World Health Organization (2007) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Version for Children and Youth. Geneva: WHO.
