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The development of the Pediatric Motivation Scale for children in rehabilitation : a pilot study

University of British Columbia

BACKGROUND: Motivation, a key factor influencing pediatric rehabilitation outcomes, is rarely measured in clinical settings and limited research has explored this construct. Currently, no scale exists with which to measure motivation during rehabilitation from a child’s perspective. PURPOSE: To review evidence about the effects of motivational interventions in children and youth with acquired brain injury (ABI) and to examine the application of Self Determination Theory (SDT) in the rehabilitation context. Based upon tenets of SDT, the aim of this pilot research was to develop an instrument, the Pediatric Motivation Scale (PMOT), to assess motivation from a child’s perspective. METHODS: This study involved two phases. Phase 1 established the PMOT content validity through: a) literature reviews related to motivation in ABI, SDT, and motivation measures; and b) expert feedback from 12 clinicians providing rehabilitation to children who have sustained either acquired brain injury (ABI) or orthopedic injury (OI). During Phase 2, the PMOT was field tested with 12 children with ABI, 9 children with OI, and 20 healthy children serving as controls. Face validity, response process, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were examined. In addition, convergent validity was explored by comparing therapists' observations of the child's motivation, using the Pediatric Volitional Questionnaire (PVQ). Pearson Product Moment correlations were used to analyze sub-scale correlations, test-retest reliability, and the relationship between the PMOT and the PVQ; Cronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency. RESULTS: Literature review revealed a need for the development of valid and reliable measures of motivation in rehabilitation. Preliminary psychometric evaluation of the PMOT indicates strong internal consistency for the scale as a whole (α = .96) and for the subscales (α =.79 to .91). The PMOT was moderately correlated with the PVQ in the rehabilitation subsample (r=.71, p<.01); however, no correlation was found in the healthy subsample (p>.05). Test-retest reliability was excellent (r=.97). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides strong preliminary evidence for psychometric properties of the PMOT for use with children in rehabilitation post ABI or OI. Future research is recommended to build upon these pilot findings for the ongoing development of this scale.

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2014-01-29

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45920

Rehabilitation Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/