Psychometric properties of the Beach Center Quality of Life Scale in parents in French-speaking families of children with developmental disabilities

Abstract

Introduction

The quality of life of disabled children and their family are interrelated. This perspective therefore supports the idea that interventions should not focus exclusively on the child with disability, but rather integrate a family-centered approach. This shift towards a conception of family quality of life and its importance for intervention has led to the development of proper measurement tools. These tools aim to identify the type of support and resources likely to improve the quality of life of families affected by a disability and, at the same time, to measure their ability to cope on a daily basis. The University of Kansas Beach Center team has certainly contributed to this development through the development of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale.

Objectives

The purpose of this research was to report on the psychometric properties of a French-language version of the Beach Family Quality of Life Scale. The same instrument has already been validated for English, Spanish and Turkish speaking populations.

Method

Two hundred and fifty parents of children and adolescents with developmental delays, disabilities or disorders, aged 3 to 18, took part in the study.

Results

The results suggest high internal consistency and good factorial validity, supporting the 5-factor structure of the original version of the instrument.

Conclusion

This makes the French version of the Beach Center Family Quality of Life a version that can be used to provide a significant amount of data on the quality of family life for French-speaking populations.