Development of the Measure of Experiential Aspects of Participation for People With Physical Disabilities

Objectives: To create a parsimonious, psychometrically sound measure of experiential aspects of participation (MeEAP) for people with physical disabilities. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Online survey. Participants: Respondents were a purposive sample of adults (N=228, n=118 female, mean age= 49.66 +/- 14.71, range= 19-83). Each respondent indicated having a physical disability and participating in employment, mobility, sport, and/or exercise life domains. Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: The MeEAP was designed to be conceptually aligned with 6 experiential aspects of participation among people with physical disabilities: autonomy, belongingness, challenge, engagement, mastery, and meaning.(1) The measure was also designed to be relevant across employment, mobility, sport, and exercise life domains. Higher scores on MeEAP items were hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of life satisfaction. Results: The final 12-item scale (2 items per subscale) had strong model fit (Satorra-Bentler scaled chi(2)((39))=58.26, P<.001, comparative fit index-=.98, Tucker-Lewis index =.96, root mean square error of approximation-=.05, standardized root mean square residual=.03) and good reliability and validity estimates. Results of regression analyses indicated that the MeEAP explained 10%-29% of the variance in life satisfaction. Conclusions: The MeEAP is the first measure to capture all 6 experiential aspects of participation for individuals with physical disabilities across 4 major life domains. The MeEAP can be used as an outcome measure or as a mediator to help explain broader outcomes (eg, life satisfaction). The MeEAP could also be used for program evaluation to provide insights about the types of interventions needed to promote full participation. (C) 2018 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine