Examining measurement invariance and differences across groups in the support needs of children with and without intellectual disability

Abstract

Background The purposes of this study were to empirically determine whether the support needs construct is generalizable across children with and without intellectual disability and to conduct cross‐group comparisons to explore how extraordinary and non‐extraordinary support needs differ in children. Method One thousand thirty‐six children (814 with intellectual disability 222 without intellectual disability) were assessed using the SIS‐C. Results The SIS‐C achieved scalar invariance between children with and without intellectual disability. Cross‐group comparisons revealed differences in variances, in correlations between factors and significant latent mean differences for all factors. Conclusion Results show that the support needs construct is generalizable to children with and without intellectual disability and that there are no qualitative differences in how they show their support needs, so typically developing children can be used as a reference group to explore differences between extraordinary and non‐extraordinary support needs. Conceptual and practical implications are discussed, and future lines of research are provided.

Toward a Better “Person–Environment Fit” through Items Calibration of the SIS-C

“…For example, in an adaptive behavior scale whose goal is the diagnosis of ID, it is possibly not applicable to evaluate in detail medium and low deficit levels, so the items will be designed to provide maximum information in high areas of the variable-those relevant for diagnosis. However, the aim of the SIS-C is not to diagnose but to assess the pattern and intensity of needs that serve for supports planning [8,17]. Consequently, the SIS-C is expected to accurately measure a wide range of intensity of support needs so that most people are assessed accurately enough regardless of the intensity of their support needs.…”

“…This semi-structured interview involves an interaction between the interviewer and the informants, and its adequate functioning is necessary to gather an accurate estimation of the extraordinary support needs that the child or adolescent with ID may have. There are different considerations for this semi-structured interview to be regarded as adequate [8,17]: (a) the interviewer's knowledge on the supports paradigm and in the SIS-C; (b) the establishment of a good rapport between the stakeholders; (c) the interviewer's ability to guide the conversations elicited during the interview; and (d) the characteristics and composition of the informants. First, the interviewer should be familiar with the supports paradigm, with the SIS-C goal, and he/she should have completed at least a four-year degree.…”

“…The importance of the support needs construct within the supports paradigm has motivated a growing emphasis on its measurement. Although there exist different approaches to assess support needs, the current trend focuses on developing standardized measures of extraordinary support needs for persons with ID based on the supports paradigm [7,8], such as the Service Needs Assessment Profile [9]; the Instrument to Classify Support Needs for People with Disability [10]; and the Supports Intensity Scale [11], updated as the Supports Intensity Scale-Adult's Version (SIS-A) [12]. Of these, the SIS-A is the most used at the international level, translated into 13 languages and used in 16 countries according to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) [13].…”

“…The proliferation of standardized measures of extraordinary support needs, such as the SIS-A [12], has facilitated the implementation of the supports paradigm. These tools have not only boosted the support needs assessment and planning process [8], but also improved the efficiency of resources allocation at organizational level, a critical resource to optimize supports planning for improving the QoL of persons with ID [14,15]. Given that support needs assessment and planning should be started as soon as possible and be offered through the lifespan of the person with ID [16], the AAIDD, given the lack of standardized measures of extraordinary support needs for children and adolescents with ID and taking as a reference the good psychometric properties reported in relation to the SIS-A, developed and validated the Supports Intensity Scale-Children's Version (SIS-C) [17], the version for children and adolescents of the SIS-A.…”

“…That said, the main goal of the SIS-C is to assess extraordinary support needs to provide personalized systems of supports to enhance the person's QoL [8]. Consequently, it is expected that the SIS-C assesses with reliability a wide range of intensity of support needs so that most children and adolescents with ID are evaluated with enough reliability no matter the intensity of their support needs.…”