Measuring outcomes of family-centered intervention: development of the Life Participation for Parents (LPP).

ABSTRACT

Raising a child with disabilities impacts the ability of parents to participate in life situations. This paper describes the development of a new instrument, Life Participation for Parents, to measure outcomes of pediatric therapy on parental participation. Items were reviewed by six occupational therapists with experience in pediatrics and instrument development. The number of items was reduced to 23. The resultant instrument was completed by 29 parents of children with disabilities. Their scores were reviewed by the nine occupational therapists working with the children. Parent and therapist respondents were interviewed regarding item content. Instrument responses were evaluated for internal consistency. The respondents confirmed the face and content validity of the construct, variability in responses, and readability of the items. Good internal consistency for items was demonstrated (Cronbach's alpha .85). The preliminary results indicate that the Life Participation for Parents is a promising tool for evaluating parental issues and measuring parent outcomes in family-centered practice.