Psychometric Study of the Occupational Self Assessment with Adolescents After Infectious Mononucleosis

This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Occupational Self Assessment (OSA) which measures clients' perceptions of their own competence and the value they assign to occupations. Two hundred and ninety-six adolescents with acute mononucleosis completed the OSA along with the Fatigue Scale, the Checklist of Infectious Symptoms, the Child Health Questionnaire, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Results indicated that OSA items coalesced to capture the intended constructs that the rating scales functioned as intended and that over 90% of adolescents were validly measured. The OSA showed adequate sensitivity and was stable over time. As expected, the OSA measures of competence were moderately associated with infectious symptoms, fatigue severity, health status, and stress while the measure of values was not and both measures were not associated with age, gender, or ethnicity. Finally, as expected, adolescents who had not recovered from mononucleosis after 12 months showed lower measures on the competence scale while still attaching the same value/importance to occupational participation when compared to recovered adolescents.