Psychometric properties of the child and adolescent scale of participation--traditional Chinese version.

The child and adolescent scale of participation (CASP) was translated into traditional Chinese and has been included as part of the new Disability Evaluation System (DES) in Taiwan since July 2012 for school-aged children with special needs. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the traditional Chinese version of the CASP (CASP-C). Participants were 231 parents/caregivers of children aged 6-18 years recruited from 31 hospitals who qualified for the DES in Taiwan. The majority of the children had intellectual disabilities (67%), followed by physical disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders. The CASP was translated into traditional Chinese according to the cross-cultural adaptation process. Content and known group validity, internal consistency, and internal scale structure were examined using a t-test, Cronbach's α, factor analysis, and Rasch analysis. The CASP-C items were mapped onto all nine chapters of the International Classification of Functioning--Children and Youth version. Children with less severe intellectual disabilities had significantly higher CASP-C scores than children with more severe disabilities. Internal consistency was acceptable on the subdomains and total CASP-C (Cronbach's α=0.88-0.97). Factor analysis yielded a two-factor CASP-C structure contributing 64.1% explained variance. Rasch analysis also indicated a unidimensional construct. The results in psychometric analyses are in agreement with those of other studies, and support that the CASP-C has acceptable psychometric properties for use in the DES in Taiwan. However, further study with a larger and more diverse sample is required to increase the generalizability of the results.