Psychometric evaluation of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY).


METHODS
The PEM-CY examines participation frequency, extent of involvement, and desire for change in sets of activities typical for the home, school, or community. Items in the 'Environment' section examine perceived supports and barriers to participation within each setting. Data were collected via an online survey from caregivers of children and young people, aged 5 to 17 years, with and without a range of different disabilities, residing in the USA and Canada. Caregivers were eligible for inclusion if (1) they identified themselves as a parent or legal guardian of the child who was the focus of the survey; (2) they were able to read English; and (3) their child was between 5 and 17 years old at the time of enrolment.


RESULTS
Data were obtained from 576 respondents. About half were parents of children with disabilities and a little more than half were from Canada. Child mean age was 11 years (SD 3.1y); 54% were male and 46% were female. Internal consistency was moderate to good (0.59 and above) across the different scales. Test-retest reliability was moderate to good (0.58 and above) across a 1- to 4-week period. There were large and significant differences between the groups with and without disabilities on all participation and environment scales. Although there were some significant age differences, they did not follow a consistent pattern.


CONCLUSIONS
Results support the use of the PEM-CY for population-level studies to gain a better understanding of the participation of children and young people and the impact of environmental factors on their participation.
Department of Occupational Therapy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. wjcoster@bu.edu
Wendy
W
Coster
Gary
G
Bedell
Mary
M
Law
Mary Alunkal
MA
Khetani
Rachel
R
Teplicky
Kendra
K
Liljenquist
Kara
K
Gleason
Ying-Chia
YC
Kao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009862:Online Systems; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States