A psychometric evaluation of the ARC-INICO Self-Determination Scale for adolescents with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

The independence to decide and act as the causal agent in one's life are unchanging demands by empowerment movements focused on people with disabilities and by people with disabilities themselves. International efforts have been devoted to defining the concept of self-determination, analyzing its importance and relationship with the quality of life of people with disabilities and creating evaluation and promotion materials based on empirical evidences. The aim of this study is to present the process for developing and validating a new self-determination evaluation instrument for young people with intellectual disabilities: the ARC-INICO Scale. The sample for validating the Scale comprised 279 young people with intellectual disabilities, limited intellectual capacities and learning difficulties. The participants were aged between 11 and 19 years (M = 15.59, SD = 1.89). The results indicate that both the Scale and the four sections into which it is divided were reliable. The confirmatory factor analysis shows proof of validity based on the internal structure of the Scale, and confirms the correct fit of the proposed hierarchical structure. Practical implications and future directions of research are also discussed.

Validation of the Portuguese version of the Personal Outcomes Scale

“…Furthermore, it is obvious the significance of getting the viewpoints of people with ID, whose interests the service system is supposed to attend. The people with ID should participate in their own assessment for exercising their right of self-determination ( Verdugo et al, 2015 ). Our data supported that it is essential to get more than one perspective in the assessment process.…”

“…First, the outliers were analyzed through the squared Mahalanobis distance ( Byrne, 2000 , Marôco, 2014 ). Next, a CFA with the Unweighted Least Squares (ULS) estimation method was conducted to confirm the measurement model ( Verdugo et al, 2015 ). The validity of QOL constructs was estimated through the composite reliability, the average variance extracted (AVE), and the discriminant validity ( Marôco, 2014 ).…”

Contextual Predictors of Self-Determined Actions in Students With and Without Intellectual Disability

“…Future studies should then explore ways for families to closely collaborate with schools (Haines, Gross, Blue‐Banning, Francis, & Turnbull, ; Lee, Palmer, Turnbull, & Wehmeyer, ) to create consistent opportunities across contexts for youth to build and enhance their personal sense of empowerment. Future work is also needed to consider ways to involve teachers in regular schools to promote self‐determination for all students, particularly in Spanish context, where both self‐determination research (e.g., Gómez‐Vela, Verdugo, González, Badia, & Wehmeyer, ) and assessment (e.g., Verdugo et al., ) have been primarily centered in students with intellectual disability, and in special education schools (e.g., Arellano, & Peralta, ).…”

Examining age-related differences in support needs on the Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version-Spanish translation

“…The SIS-C Spanish is a reliable and valid way to assess the intensity and pattern of support needed by children ages 5-16 and contributes to the breakthrough in the construction of assessment tools designed to children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Spain ( Arias et al, 2013 , Gómez et al, 2014 , Verdugo et al, 2015 ). The implications of the differences between 5-10 and 11-16 year olds in the Spanish sample suggests that planning teams need to be cognizant that children's support needs change as they age.…”