Item selection in self-report measures for children and adolescents with disabilities: Lessons from cognitive interviews

Linda Eddy; Leyla Khastou; Karon F. Cook; Dagmar Amtmann

doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2010.07.004

Item selection in self-report measures for children and adolescents with disabilities: Lessons from cognitive interviews

Linda Eddy^*, Leyla Khastou, Karon F. Cook, Dagmar Amtmann

^*Corresponding author for this work

Medical Social Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate children's and adolescents' understanding of items from self-report measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted as part of a larger study on pain and fatigue in children with disabilities. A list of guiding questions was used to encourage participants to talk about words or concepts in the scale that they found difficult. The sample included 32 children and adolescents with physical disabilities. Participants had difficulty with words such as intense, severe, and anxiety. They had more difficulty with abstract ideas, such as average, than they did with more concrete ideas, such as naming a recreational or social activity. Because poor outcome measurement hinders symptom evaluation, findings support the need to put greater emphasis on the child perspective when developing and using self-report measures. Suggestions for increasing accuracy of these measures are offered for clinicians and researchers.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	559-565
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Pediatric Nursing
Volume	26
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2010.07.004
State	Published - Dec 2011

Funding

Communicating Nursing Research Conference on April 18, 2008, in Garden Grove, CA. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Grant 5U01AR052171 to University of Washington Center on Outcomes Research in Rehabilitation and by a National Institutes of Health Reentry to Biomedical and Behavioral Health administrative supplement to Washington State University College of Nursing.

Keywords

Children with disabilities
Cognitive interview
Self-report measures

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pediatrics

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10.1016/j.pedn.2010.07.004

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title = "Item selection in self-report measures for children and adolescents with disabilities: Lessons from cognitive interviews",

abstract = "The aim of the study was to evaluate children's and adolescents' understanding of items from self-report measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted as part of a larger study on pain and fatigue in children with disabilities. A list of guiding questions was used to encourage participants to talk about words or concepts in the scale that they found difficult. The sample included 32 children and adolescents with physical disabilities. Participants had difficulty with words such as intense, severe, and anxiety. They had more difficulty with abstract ideas, such as average, than they did with more concrete ideas, such as naming a recreational or social activity. Because poor outcome measurement hinders symptom evaluation, findings support the need to put greater emphasis on the child perspective when developing and using self-report measures. Suggestions for increasing accuracy of these measures are offered for clinicians and researchers.",

keywords = "Children with disabilities, Cognitive interview, Self-report measures",

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note = "Funding Information: Communicating Nursing Research Conference on April 18, 2008, in Garden Grove, CA. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Grant 5U01AR052171 to University of Washington Center on Outcomes Research in Rehabilitation and by a National Institutes of Health Reentry to Biomedical and Behavioral Health administrative supplement to Washington State University College of Nursing. ",

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AU - Cook, Karon F.

AU - Amtmann, Dagmar

N1 - Funding Information: Communicating Nursing Research Conference on April 18, 2008, in Garden Grove, CA. This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health Grant 5U01AR052171 to University of Washington Center on Outcomes Research in Rehabilitation and by a National Institutes of Health Reentry to Biomedical and Behavioral Health administrative supplement to Washington State University College of Nursing.

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AB - The aim of the study was to evaluate children's and adolescents' understanding of items from self-report measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted as part of a larger study on pain and fatigue in children with disabilities. A list of guiding questions was used to encourage participants to talk about words or concepts in the scale that they found difficult. The sample included 32 children and adolescents with physical disabilities. Participants had difficulty with words such as intense, severe, and anxiety. They had more difficulty with abstract ideas, such as average, than they did with more concrete ideas, such as naming a recreational or social activity. Because poor outcome measurement hinders symptom evaluation, findings support the need to put greater emphasis on the child perspective when developing and using self-report measures. Suggestions for increasing accuracy of these measures are offered for clinicians and researchers.

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KW - Cognitive interview

KW - Self-report measures

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Item selection in self-report measures for children and adolescents with disabilities: Lessons from cognitive interviews

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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