CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF THE PARTICIPATION AND ENVIRONMENT MEASURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE KOREAN CULTURAL CONTEXT

Abstract

The Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) is a parent-report measure assessing children’s participation and environmental factors across home, school and community. Although the PEM-CY has demonstrated reliability and validity in North America, no studies have yet reported the psychometric properties of a Korean PEM-CY (KPEM-CY). In order to use the PEM-CY in the Korean cultural context, this research developed the KPEM-CY and tested its reliability and validity in the Korean population. Through a unique cross-cultural adaptation guideline, the KPEM-CY was developed. A total of 76% of the participation items and 29% of the environment items were revised to improve their fit with the Korean culture. To examine internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and known group validity of the KPEM-CY, 196 parents of children (80 children with disabilities) aged 5 to 13 years were recruited in the city of Daejeon, South Korea. Internal consistency was found to be moderate to excellent for the summary scores. Test-retest reliability was excellent for participation frequency and extent of involvement across the three settings and moderate to excellent for the home setting. Significant differences were identified in the specific dimensions of children’s participation and environmental factors according to factors of a child and their parents (i.e., disability, child’s age, and type of school). This thesis provides evidence that the KPEM-CY is a reliable and valid measure for Korean children aged 5 to 13 years. The results of this thesis provide an understanding about Korean children’s participation patterns and the impact of environmental factors on their participation. This new knoweldge can assist occupational therapists to set intervention goals and to conduct future studies to improve the participation of Korean children with disabilities. The KPEM-CY also has the potential to be used in population-level studies to compare children’s participation patterns across regions, countries and cultures.