Adolescent participation characteristics: Development and initial psychometric properties of the adolescents...

Adolescents' participation in daily activities is linked to positive effects, including improved academic performance, reduced school dropout and delinquency rates, increased social engagement, and influences well-being. Conversely, limited participation is associated with negative consequences, such as limited learning, behavioural problems, lower self-esteem and higher rates of substance use, emotional difficulties. Despite this, there is a lack of a comprehensive tools designed specifically for adolescents, which encompass both objective and subjective dimensions of participation across contexts.

To report on the development and initial psychometric properties of the Adolescents Participation Questionnaire (APQ).

Three hundred and seventy-nine typically achieving students and 103 underachieving students filled-out the APQ. Two expert panels evaluated its content validity by using questionnaires and a specification table.

I-CVI and S-CVI were acceptable to excellent. The multi-rater linear weighted kappa statistic was good to excellent. Reliability estimation was acceptable for the entire questionnaire and for each context separately (α = 0.61-0.75). Test-retest reliability for each scale and context separately demonstrated medium to excellent reliability (ICC = 0.42-0.92). Construct validity was established by significant differences found between two known groups.

The APQ is a suitable tool for assessing adolescents' participation. Further studies are necessary to expand the established psychometric properties.