Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy

Young children demonstrate both interpersonal social skills (IPS) and learning-related social skills (LRSS) in the early childhood environments.

The aim of the paper was to investigate the construct validity and measurement properties of the Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) when used to assess young children's IPS and LRSS within early childhood environments in Singapore.

The participants included 117 children aged 3–6 years, recruited from six preschools in Singapore. Among these children, 28 of them have special needs. The teachers completed the CBRS for all the children.

Eight items were found to fit in a unidimensional scale to measure IPS, while 12 items to measure LRSS. The measurement properties of these two scales were found to be satisfactory.

This study has validated the use of the CBRS to assess IPS and LRSS demonstrated by young Singaporean children. The importance of considering the cultural context when assessing young children's social skills is discussed in the paper.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool (MOHOST) using item response theory and classical test theory approaches for clients with psychiatric disorders.

Data, including demographic variables and scores on the MOHOST and a version of the Health of the Nation Outcomes Scale, were retrieved from case records of 1039 adult psychiatric service users.

Participants ranged in age from 18 to 102 and 57% were female and 43% were male. Most (94%) were unemployed, retired, or receiving other education or training. The items that make up each of the MOHOST subscales demonstrated good discriminant validity and excellent goodness of fit showing that the items measured the MOHO constructs unidimensionally. All subscales were able to distinguish clients into at least three statistically distinct strata and showed convergence with an independent measure of functioning.

Findings from this study must take into account implicit limitations associated with the use of Rasch analysis and classical test theory. At the same time, results did support use of the MOHOST for research and clinical purposes. The MOHOST demonstrated good construct validity, item separation reliability, and concurrent validity. As a measure of occupational participation, the MOHOST offers practitioners and researchers a valid and reliable measure of volition, habituation, communication/interaction skills, process skills, motor skills, and environmental influences on participation.

Changes in demographic characteristics, social structure and economic status have shifted the direction of care of elderly people in Malaysia. Subsequently, nursing homes and institutions for elderly people becoming a significant care option. The aim of this study is to identify the level of life satisfaction and to examine the elements of life satisfaction amongst the elderly people living in the institutions.

In this mixed methodology, a survey using translated version of Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was conducted to 82 participants who conformed to the inclusion criteria. Twenty participants who volunteered to discuss about their live experience regarding life satisfaction living in a public elderly institution in Malaysia. The participants were stratified according to age group and gender. Four focus groups were conducted and the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis were used to identify the key themes emerged from the focus groups.

The level of life satisfaction is equivalent to the norms and there is no statistical significant difference between the levels with the demographic variables. Two main themes were developed, contentment and acceptance, reflecting the elements of life satisfaction of the participants in the institution.

The findings are inconsistent with previous findings. However, it identified new elements of life satisfaction for elderly people in the institution.

To investigate the effect of applying horticulture activity on stress, work performance and quality of life in persons with psychiatric illness.

This study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Using convenience sampling, 24 participants with psychiatric illness were recruited to participate in a horticultural programme and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Two participants dropped out from experimental groups after assignment. Ten participants in the experimental group attended 10 horticultural sessions within 2 weeks, while 12 participants in the control group continued to receive conventional sheltered workshop training. Participants were assessed before and after programme using Chinese version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS21) and the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI-C), and the Work Behavior Assessment.

There was a significant difference in change scores of the DASS21 (p=.01) between experimental and control group. There were no significant differences in change scores of the PWI-C between the two groups.

Horticultural therapy is effective in decreasing the levels of anxiety, depression and stress among participants in this pilot study, but the impact of the programme on work behavior and quality of life will need further exploration.