Descriptive and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Weiss functional impairment rating scale: parent report form in Iranian children

Abstract

BackgroundThis study evaluates the descriptive and psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Parent Report Form (WFIRS-P) in a normal sample of Iranian children.MethodParents of 282 students (grades 1–6) completed the WFIRS-P. Means and standard deviations were computed for the total scale, each domain, and each item of the WFIRS-P. Internal consistency, interdomain correlations, and test-retest reliability were used to assess the reliability of the scale.ResultsAmong the WFIRS-P domains, life skills had the highest rated impairment (M = 0.50, SD = 0.37) and risky activities had the lowest. Internal consistency (α = .88) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.77) were strong for the WFIRS-P total scale. The correlation between the WFIRS-P domains and the total scale ranged from 0.52 to 0.81.ConclusionsResults suggest that the Persian version of the WFIRS-P is a useful and psychometrically reliable measure for assessing functional skills in children.

Validation of the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale (WFIRS-P) as a Functional Impairment Measure in a General Population of Schoolchildren

“…Second, the risky activities items appear to measure behavioral disorder symptoms rather than functional impairment (Dose et al, 2019; Kernder et al, 2019). Third, risky activities are less expected in the children included in the present study due to their young age (Kiani et al, 2018). Fourth, these high-risk behavior items are expected to be very rare and infrequent in a general population sample (Kiani et al, 2018; Weiss, Childress, et al, 2018).…”

“…Third, risky activities are less expected in the children included in the present study due to their young age (Kiani et al, 2018). Fourth, these high-risk behavior items are expected to be very rare and infrequent in a general population sample (Kiani et al, 2018;Weiss, Childress, et al, 2018). Finally, 9/10 items revealed a high degree of floor effect in the initial item screening (see Supplementary Table S1).…”

“…Therefore, it is possible that the scale may be of use to determine impairment levels in settings other than clinical ones and in children from the general population who are at-risk of developing mental health problems. Moreover, the investigation of the WFIRS-P in the general population could provide a baseline level/norms (Kiani et al, 2018), such as percentiles, of use for comparison purposes in clinical practice. To date, only Kiani et al (2018) have examined the psychometric properties of the WFIRS-P in a general population sample.…”

“…Moreover, the investigation of the WFIRS-P in the general population could provide a baseline level/norms (Kiani et al, 2018), such as percentiles, of use for comparison purposes in clinical practice. To date, only Kiani et al (2018) have examined the psychometric properties of the WFIRS-P in a general population sample. They included 282 Iranian schoolchildren aged 6 to 11 and found acceptable to good internal consistency for most domains, weak to moderate inter-domain correlations, and acceptable 2-week test–retest reliability in a subsample ( n = 28) for the total score and two domains (risky activities and school).…”

“…Moreover, the investigation of the WFIRS-P in the general population could provide a baseline level/norms (Kiani et al, 2018), such as percentiles, of use for comparison purposes in clinical practice. To date, only Kiani et al (2018) have examined the psychometric properties of the WFIRS-P in a general population sample.…”