Validation of Environmental Content in the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the concurrent validity of the environment content in the newly developed Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM). DesignCross-sectional study. SettingData were collected online. ParticipantsConvenience and snowball sampling methods were used to survey caregivers of children (N=381; 85 children with developmental disabilities and delays and 296 children without developmental disabilities and delays) aged 0 and 5 years (mean age, 36.49±20.18mo). InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresThe YC-PEM includes an assessment of the effect of environment on children's participation for 3 settings: home, daycare/preschool, and community. Pearson and Spearman correlational analyses were used to examine the concurrent validity of the YC-PEM environmental content according to a criterion measure, the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors–Child and Parent Version (CHIEF-CP). The YC-PEM and the CHIEF-CP items were first mapped to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health–Children and Youth Version to identify items for pairwise comparison. ResultsWe found small to moderate negative associations for 51 of 66 pairwise comparisons involving CHIEF-CP and YC-PEM environment items (r=−.13 to −.39; P<.01). Significant associations were found for items in all 5 International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health–Children and Youth Version environmental domains. ConclusionsResults lend further support for the use of the YC-PEM for valid caregiver assessment of the physical, social, attitudinal, and institutional features of environments in terms of their effect on young children's participation within the home, daycare/preschool, and community settings.