Translation and Face and Content Validation of a Questionnaire to Assess Educational Needs and Intervention Priorities in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have various problems, including difficulties in social communication skills and presence of repetitive behaviors. The plurality of these problems can affect their abilities to participate in school and community. The variety of these difficulties make it difficult and confusing for the therapists, teachers, and parents to select the most appropriate type of rehabilitation service for these children. The purpose of the present study was translating and assessing face and content validity of a questionnaire developed by Jeff Sigafoos in New Zealand to investigate educational needs and intervention priorities for parents of children with ASD. The results of the study can be used to facilitate designing and planning of rehabilitation interventions for children with ASD.
In the present descriptive-analytic study, psychometric methods were employed. Firstly, Assessment of Educational Needs and Intervention Priorities questionnaire and the permission for its translation were obtained from the developer. Then, it was translated following the forward-backward process. Next, the translated questionnaire was evaluated in terms of face validity by 10 parents of children with ASD. Also,the content validity was assessed by 10 professionals in Psychology who had clinical expertise in working with children with ASD. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) were determined, as well.
After the translation process, one item was removed. A very high face validity index was obtained for the new questionnaire (0.97). CVR (1-0.8) and CVI (0.99) were found to be in acceptable ranges.
The new Assessment of Educational Needs and Intervention Priorities questionnaire enjoys high face and content validity making it appropriate for assessing educational needs and intervention priorities for parents of children with ASD.