BACKGROUND: 'Picture My Participation' (PMP) is a validated questionnaire for assessing participation in everyday activities by children with disabilities in low and middle income countries, but it is not yet available in simplified Chinese.

AIM: To describe the cross-cultural adaptation of the simplified Chinese version of 'Picture My Participation' (PMP-C; Simplified) and explore its validity and reliability.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted using PMP-C (Simplified) with structured interviews supported by pictures for children and youth with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) in mainland China. The validity of the PMP-C (Simplified) was demonstrated by face validity and content validity while the reliability was evaluated for internal consistency and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS: Five items were slightly modified and eight pictures were revised to improve their fit with the culture of mainland China. All the items in PMP-C (Simplified) had excellent content validity, and face validity. The internal consistency, reliability coefficient and test-retest reliability of the subscale attendance for children and youth with and without ID were excellent.

CONCLUSION: Preliminary evidence of the content validity of PMP-C (Simplified) items and reliability of the subscale attendance for use with children and youth in mainland China has been gathered. However, psychometric properties in terms of construct validity for the whole instrument and reliability for the engagement subscale need further exploration.

Background

Preliminary evidence of the content validity of the simplified Chinese version of ‘Picture My Participation’ (PMP-C; Simplified) items and reliability of the subscale attendance for the effectiveness of the use with children and youth in mainland China has been collected. However, evidence of construct validity for the instrument is not yet available.

Aim

To explore the construct validity of the attendance scale in PMP-C (Simplified).

Methods

A cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted using PMP-C (Simplified) with a picture-supported interview for 290 children and youths aged 5–21 with and without ID in urban and rural areas of mainland China. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed using the principal component analysis (PCA) to analyse the resulting data.

Results

The EFA extracted five factors with eigenvalues greater than one and the cumulative contribution rate of factors accounted for 51.62% of the variance. All items had factor loadings above 0.50. The five subcomponents included: organised activities, social activities, taking care of others, family life activities and personal care and development activities.

Conclusion

The results of the factor analysis support the construct validity of the PMP-C (Simplified) attendance scale. It provides further psychometric evidence that PMP-C (Simplified) is a sound measure to assess participation for children and youths in mainland China.

BACKGROUND: Children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are vulnerable and participate less in everyday activities compared to their peers with typical development. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators related to the participation in everyday activities of children with IDs in China.

METHODS: Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary caregivers of children with IDs from special schools in Tianjin, China. The data was transcribed and analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS: Four categories of barriers to participation in everyday activities for children with IDs were identified: Insufficient knowledge, attitudes and skills in primary caregivers; ID-related characteristics of children; Stigma and Chinese culture; and Lack of support from society. Four categories describing facilitators of participation in everyday activities for children with IDs were also identified: The optimistic attitude of the primary caregiver; Adequate family support; Active environment in school and policy; and Attractive characteristics of children with IDs.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this study add knowledge on important barriers and facilitators affecting the participation of children with IDs in everyday activities in China. The primary caregivers' voices need to be heard by government and society. Appropriate and effective changes in family-oriented services and the legal, social, political and economic context of the child welfare management system for the scale-up of improving participation should be implemented for children with IDs.