Validity and reliability of the Time Organisation and Participation Scale (TOPS)

The ability to organise daily life tasks and to execute them on time constitutes an essential component of being efficient and may have consequences for an individual's well-being. The objective of the study was to develop a self-report scale for detecting difficulties in the organisation of daily life tasks on time, as perceived by the individual, and to examine its validity and reliability. In order to test the scale's content and face validity, 228 Israeli adults, 83 (36%) males and 145 (64%) females, aged 18-44 (mean age 26.49, SD = 5.83), participated in the study. Internal consistencies following factor analysis, as well as construct validity, were initiated. Results of the analysis of the Time Organisation and Participation Scale (TOPS) revealed three distinct factors with Eigen values > 1, comprised of 32 items. These three factors explained 49.68% of the total variance. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency for the overall score (alpha = 92), as well as for the three factors (alpha ranges .87 to .92). The corrected item total correlation that was performed for each of the three factors indicated good results, ranging from .46 to .76. Construct validity was confirmed, while the MANOVA yielded significant age group differences. Initial results suggest that the TOPS is a valid and reliable tool for detecting difficulties in the organisation of daily life tasks on time among adults.