Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine internal consistency, factor structure, and test-retest reliability of the Participation and Sensory Environment Questionnaire Community Version (PSEQ-C). The PSEQ-C is intended to assess parent and caregiver perceptions of the degree to which the sensory environment impedes young children's participation in community activities. Additionally, this study examined differences in participation between children without and with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Primary Author and Speaker: Beth Pfeiffer
Additional Authors and Speakers: Katherine Bevans, Aimee Piller
The purpose of this study was to examine internal consistency, factor structure and test-retest reliability of the Participation and Sensory Environment Questionnaire Community Version (PSEQ-C). The PSEQ-C is intended to assess parent/caregiver perceptions of the degree to which the sensory environment impedes young children's participation in community activities. Additionally, this study examined differences in participation between children with and with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
Participation in community-based activities is essential to learn important life skills and competencies (Dunst et al., 2002) necessary for development, health and quality of life. Participation restrictions are more common in community settings than in home and school settings (Hwang et al., 2015). Families of children with ASD may avoid community activities or modify their activities and routines to accommodate for the needs of their child with ASD (Schaaf, et al., 2011). One factor identified to impact daily activity for children with ASD is the fit between individual sensory processing patterns and the sensory environment. It is estimated that 70-96% of all children with ASD have unusual responses to sensory stimuli in the environment (Ben-Sasson et al., 2009). Unfortunately, there are few instruments that measure the environmental impact on participation in community environments and even less that measure the sensory characteristics of the environment. The PSEQ-C was developed to fill this need.
A cross sectional design was used to collect data for psychometric analyses. Participants were 304 parents of children with and without ASD between the ages of 3 and 7 years old. Recruitment occurred nationally through social media, ASD community groups, preschools, and school districts. Participants completed the PSEQ-C, along with the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) to confirm group placement (ASD versus non-ASD), and a demographic questionnaire. Participants either completed the surveys on-line using Qualtrics software or were provided with a paper version of the questionnaires based on preference. One hundred and twenty-eight of the participants completed the PSEQ-C two weeks later using the same data collection method to evaluate test re-test reliability.
STATA was used to complete all statistical analyses. The mean, standard deviation, and range were calculated for each item. A confirmatory factor analysis was completed to evaluate a unidimensional model fit. Cronbach’s alpha was used to calculate internal consistency and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients to calculate test re-test reliability. We tested for expected differences on total test scores between ASD (n=176) and non-ASD groups (n=137) using a t-test.
Single-factor CFA model fit indices for the full sample and ASD and non-ASD subgroups demonstrated that all PSEQ-C items converge on a single underlying construct. CFA factor loadings range from 0.83 to 0.95. Internal consistency was high with Cronbach’s alpha at .98. Total test-retest reliability was moderately high (ICC = .76). The PSEQ-C had reasonable distributions for the whole sample. As expected, parents of children with ASD had significantly higher PSEQ-C scores than parents of non-ASD children (t(298) = 20.14, p<0.0001).
The results of this study identified the underlying factor structure and provided initial reliability for a unique measure to assess the impact of sensory factors within community environments from the perspective of key stakeholders. The PSEQ-C has the potential to support the intervention process within community contexts for therapist and families of young children.
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Hwang, A., Yen, C., Liou, T., Simeonsson, R. J., Lollar, D. J., Chiu, W….Chiu, W.T. (2015). Participation of children with disabilities in Taiwan: The gap between independence and frequency. PLoS One, 10(5).
Schaaf, R. C., Toth-Cohen, S., Johnson, S. L., Outten, G. & Benevides, T. W. (2011). The everyday routines of families of children with autism: Examining the impact of sensory processing difficulties on the family. Autism, 15(3), 373–389.