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Objective: To examine the relationship among (a) quality of activities of daily living (ADL) task performance, (b) quality of social interaction, and (c) the extent of discrepancy between the person's and the occupational therapist's perspectives; and explore patterns of strengths and challenges among people with developmental disabilities (DD). Methods: Fifty-eight adults with different types of DD, living in northern Sweden, were evaluated using the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), the Evaluation of Social Interaction (ESI) and the Assessment of Compared Qualities -Occupational Performance (ACQ-OP) and Assessment of Compared Qualities -Social Interaction (ACQ-SI). The relationships among assessments were analysed using Pearson correlation analyses. Cluster analysis was used to group participants based on their evaluation results. Results The quality of ADL task performance and the quality of social interaction demonstrated weak to moderate positive relationships while the ACQ-OP and ACQ-SI demonstrated a strong positive relationship. The cluster analysis resulted in identifying three distinct groups that differed significantly from one another. Conclusion: The findings support the clinical use of multiple assessment tools, including observation and self-report, to evaluate different aspects of occupational performance. Comprehensive and relevant evaluation supports collaborative goal setting and intervention planning.

Background: This thesis is was designed to evaluate aspects of reliability and validity of the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) (Fisher, Bryze, Hume, & Griswold, 2007), an observation-based evaluation of quality of occupational performance when children perform schoolwork tasks in school settings. The long term goal was to contribute to knowledge about children at risk or with mild disabilities who experience difficulties with occupational performance in school settings, and describe how the School AMPS can be used when a true top−down process of planning and implementing school-based occupational therapy services is implemented in a Swedish context.

Methods: In Study I, two different split-half methods and were used to estimate reliability of the School AMPS measures. These were cross-validated using Rasch equivalent of Cronbach’s alpha. The standard error of measurement (m) was also calculated. In Studies II and III, many-facet Rasch analyses and/or relevant inferential statistics (e.g., ANOVA, tests) were used to examine for evidence of validity based on (1) internal structure related to differential item functioning (DIF), (2) relations to other variables (sensitivity) in terms of comparing groups (typically-developing children vs. children with mild disabilities), and (3) consequences of testing (benefits of testing) in terms of test fairness. In Study IV, ANOVA and tests were used to examine relations to other variables in terms of sensitivity of the School AMPS measures for detecting change based on repeated School AMPS evaluations pre- and post-interventions.

Results: The three methods for estimating reliability of the School AMPS measures yielded high reliability coefficient estimates (≥0.73) and low ms. Minimal DIF was identified, and despite minimal DIF, the School AMPS measures were found to be free of differential test functioning. The School AMPS measures were sensitive enough to detect differences between groups as well as changes following consultative occupational therapy services provided in natural school settings.

Conclusions: The results support the reliability and validity of the School AMPS scales and measures when used to evaluate quality of occupational performance in school settings. The results are also of clinical importance as they provide evidence that occupational therapists can have confidence in the School AMPS measures when they are used in the process of making decisions about individual students, planning interventions, and later perform follow-up evaluations to measure the outcomes. We also have objective evidence that children with mild disabilities demonstrate diminished quality of "doing" when performing schoolwork tasks. The potential long term benefits of such evidence may be to support or justify the need for children with mild disabilities to receive occupational therapy services within school settings in Sweden; and through collaboration with teachers, plan and implement better targeted and more effective interventions.

OBJECTIVE.: The objective was to determine whether the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) is valid when used to evaluate students in different world regions.

METHOD.: Participants were 984 students, ages 3–13 yr, from North America, Australia and New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries, matched for age and diagnoses. We used FACETS many-faceted Rasch analyses to generate item difficulty calibrations by region and evaluate for significant differential item functioning (DIF) and differential test functioning (DTF).

RESULTS.: Four School AMPS items demonstrated DIF but resulted in no DTF.

CONCLUSION.: This study provided support for occupational therapists using the School AMPS to evaluate students' quality of schoolwork task performances across regions because the School AMPS measures are free of bias associated with world region.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether students with mild disabilities differed from typically developing students in their ability to perform schoolwork tasks. The participants, selected from the School Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) database, comprised 175 students in each group. Their data were subjected to many-faceted Rasch analyses and then analyzed for statistically significant differences in mean school motor and school process abilities between groups. The relative and actual item difficulty calibration values were then compared to identify meaningful differences between groups. The results revealed a statistically significant mean difference in school motor and school process ability between groups (large effect sizes), essentially stable relative skill item hierarchies between groups, and actual hierarchies that differed such that some school motor and almost all school process skill items (occupational performance skills) were more difficult to perform for the mild disabilities group. The results of this study also provided evidence of validity for the use of the School AMPS measures to assist in identifying lower than expected schoolwork performance of students with mild disabilities.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to use a variety of methods to evaluate and cross-validate the reliability estimates of the quality of schoolwork performance measures in the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS)(1).

Methods: Split-half reliability was estimated based on School AMPS data from 6 194 students who had performed at least two school AMPS tasks. Two different split-half methods were used: splitting the School AMPS items vertically and splitting them horizontally. The Rasch equivalent of Cronbach’s alpha for the full School AMPS evaluation and standard error of measurement (SEm) were also considered.

Results: All three methods yielded high reliability coefficient estimates (r ≤ 0.70) and overall SEm was low.

Conclusions: From a practice perspective, the results of this study are of clinical importance as they provide evidence that occupational therapists can have confidence in the consistency of the School AMPS measures when they are used in the process of making decisions about individual students, planning interventions, and later performing followup evaluations to measure the outcome.

Aim: As no studies have examined for gender differences in quality of schoolwork task performance, the purpose of this study was to examine whether there is a gender difference in quality of schoolwork task performance among students at risk of or with mild disabilities, and to compare any identified differences to those that might exist among their typically developing peers.

Methods: The participants were 2510 students (typically developing = 412 girls, 422 boys; at risk = 147 girls, 379 boys; mild = 242 girls, 901 boys), 4-10 years of age. Schoolwork task performance was measured using the School Version of the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS).

Results: Regression analyses revealed no significant gender or age-by-gender interaction effects for any of the three groups (typically developing, at risk, mild).

Interpretation: The results, focused on occupational performance, complement prior research that has focused on examining for gender differences in behaviour, academic achievement, and coordination among students with mild disabilities. These results also suggest that current School AMPS normative values, based on combined gender means, are valid.