Perceived Autonomy in People With Intellectual Disabilities: Psychometric Properties of an Easy-to-Read...

The concept of intellectual disability has evolved into a multidimensional approach. This approach recognises the importance of contextual and environmental factors, highlighting autonomy as essential for the well-being and quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities (ID).

The study was designed to assess the psychometric properties of a new measure of perceived autonomy in people with ID, adapted to an Easy-to-Read (E2R) format for self-administration. The study was conducted in Spain. A total of 492 adults with ID attending occupational centres completed the scale. Exploratory (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted on independent subsamples to examine its internal structure, together with reliability and validity evidence.

Participants reported moderate levels of perceived autonomy. The EFA yielded a two-factor structure-autonomy in future planning and autonomy in daily activities-accounting for 50.1% of the variance. The CFA corroborated this structure with an adequate fit (CFI = 0.949, TLI = 0.930, RMSEA = 0.084, SRMR = 0.083). Internal consistency was good (ω = 0.83; α = 0.79), and the two factors showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity.

The findings support the reliability and validity of the E2R scale as a self-report measure of perceived autonomy in people with ID. The two-factor structure indicates that this population distinguishes between autonomy in daily activities and autonomy in future planning, and that, when adequately adapted, people with ID can report their own perceived autonomy directly.