Construct Validity and Test-Retest Reliability of the Coping Inventory (CI) for Children With Developmental...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Occupational Therapy
• Developmental Disabilities Research

Background:

• Occupational therapy practitioners and researchers require dependable tools to measure coping strategies in children with developmental disabilities.
• The Coping Inventory (CI) is a 48-item survey developed for this purpose.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the construct validity, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability of the Coping Inventory (CI) for children.
• To determine if the CI is a suitable measurement tool for this population.

Main Methods:

• Rasch analysis was employed to assess construct validity and internal reliability.
• Intraclass correlations, Pearson correlations, Bland-Altman plots, and t tests were used to examine test-retest reliability.
• School staff completed the CI for 79 students (ages 5-13) with developmental disabilities.

Main Results:

• Rasch analysis confirmed construct validity, with 94% of items meeting expectations and forming a logical hierarchy.
• High item-total correlations indicated good internal consistency.
• An average intraclass correlation coefficient of .96 demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability.

Conclusions:

• The Coping Inventory (CI) provides robust evidence of construct validity and reliability for use with children with developmental disabilities.
• The study suggests potential for item reduction in the CI to enhance efficiency, pending further investigation.