DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF THE CHILDREN PARTICIPATION QUESTIONNAIRE –SCHOOL (CPQ-S)

Background: There is a paucity of measures to assess the participation of school aged children. The goals of this study were to adapt the Child Participation Questionnaire (for preschoolers) to be suitable for 6- to 12... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
There is a paucity of measures to assess the participation of school aged children. The goals of this study were to adapt the Child Participation Questionnaire (for preschoolers) to be suitable for 6- to 12 year-old children and to perform a preliminary examination of its psychometric properties, including internal reliability and criterion and construct validity.
Method:
The CPQ-School is a questionnaire for parents designed to measure a child’s participation patterns in seven occupational domains. It incorporates five participation dimensions: diversity, intensity, child's independence, child’s enjoyment and parental satisfaction. The study comprised 329 typically developing children, 15 children with High Functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder (HFASD), 25 children with Low Functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder (LFASD), 20 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), and 13 children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). All the children were 6- to 12 years-old. All the parents completed the CPQ-School, and 98 children completed the Child Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) while their parents completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).
Results:
A satisfactory level of internal reliability was found. The CPQ-School was significantly correlated with the CAPE and the SDQ. Participation differences were detected between children with different developmental disabilities.
Conclusion:
The CPQ-School was found to be a reliable and valid measure to assess participation of school-aged children.
Application to Practice:
The CPQ-School may be used as a first step in carrying out a “top down” evaluation. It supports collaboration between parents and therapists and may contribute to the process of setting intervention goals.