title: Confirmatory factor analysis of the supports intensity scale for children.
abstract: Support needs assessment instruments and recent research related to this construct have been more focused on adults with intellectual disability than on children. However, the design and implementation of Individualized Support Plans (ISP) must start at an early age. Currently, a project for the translation, adaptation and validation of the supports intensity scale for children (SIS-C) is being conducted in Spain. In this study, the internal structure of the scale was analyzed to shed light on the nature of this construct when evaluated in childhood. A total of 814 children with intellectual disability between 5 and 16 years of age participated in the study. Their support need level was assessed by the SIS-C, and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), including different hypotheses, was carried out to identify the optimal factorial structure of this scale. The CFA results indicated that a unidimensional model is not sufficient to explain our data structure. On the other hand, goodness-of-fit indices showed that both correlated first-order factors and higher-order factor models of the construct could explain the data obtained from the scale. Specifically, a better fit of our data with the correlated first-order factors model was found. These findings are similar to those identified in previous analyses performed with adults. Implications and directions for further research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Avda. de la Merced, 109-131, 37005 Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: verdugo@usal.es.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Verdugo
authors.affiliation: Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Avda. de la Merced, 109-131, 37005 Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: veronicaguillen@usal.es.
authors.forename: Verónica M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Guillén
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Valladolid, Campus Miguel Delibes, Paseo de Belen 1, 47011 Valladolid, Spain. Electronic address: barias@psi.uva.es.
authors.forename: Benito
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.affiliation: Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Avda. de la Merced, 109-131, 37005 Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: evavs@usal.es.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: Institute on Community Integration (INICO), University of Salamanca, Avda. de la Merced, 109-131, 37005 Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: badia@usal.es.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Badia
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004495:Education of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D012449:Safety; D012944:Social Support; D013030:Spain
keywords: Assessment; Confirmatory factor analysis; Intellectual disability; Support intensity scale for children; Support needs