title: Development of self-report measures of social attitudes that act as environmental barriers and facilitators for people with disabilities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development of new self-report measures of social attitudes that act as environmental facilitators or barriers to the participation of people with disabilities in society.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mixed-methods approach included a literature review; item classification, selection, and writing; cognitive interviews and field testing of participants with spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or stroke; and rating scale analysis to evaluate initial psychometric properties.
  
  
  METHODS
  General community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individuals with SCI, TBI, or stroke participated in cognitive interviews (n=9); community residents with those same conditions participated in field testing (n=305).
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-report item pool of social attitudes that act as facilitators or barriers to people with disabilities participating in society.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An interdisciplinary team of experts classified 710 existing social environment items into content areas and wrote 32 new items. Additional qualitative item review included item refinement and winnowing of the pool prior to cognitive interviews and field testing of 82 items. Field test data indicated that the pool satisfies a 1-parameter item response theory measurement model and would be appropriate for development into a calibrated item bank.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our qualitative item review process supported a social environment conceptual framework that includes both social support and social attitudes. We developed a new social attitudes self-report item pool. Calibration testing of that pool is underway with a larger sample to develop a social attitudes item bank for persons with disabilities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. Electronic address: sofia-garcia@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Sofia F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Magasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Jin-Shei
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Semik
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hammel
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Allen W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Heinemann
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Environment; International classification of functioning, disability and health; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Social environment; Social participation