The Perceived Efficacy and Goal Setting System (PEGS), Part II: Evaluation of test–retest reliability and differences between child and parental reports in the Swedish version

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the test–retest reliability of children's perceptions of their own competence in performing daily tasks and of their choice of goals for intervention using the Swedish version of the Perceived Efficacy and Goal Setting System (PEGS). A second aim was to evaluate agreement between children's and parents' perceptions of the child's competence and choices of intervention goals. Methods: Forty-four children with disabilities and their parents completed the Swedish version of the PEGS. Thirty-six of the children completed a retest session allocated into one of two groups: (A) for evaluation of perceived competence and (B) for evaluation of choice of goals. Cohen's kappa, weighted kappa and absolute agreement were calculated. Results: Test–retest reliability for children's perceived competence showed good agreement for the dichotomized scale of competent/non-competent performance; however, using the four-point scale the agreement varied. The children's own goals were relatively stable over time; 78% had an absolute agreement ranging from 50% to 100%. There was poor agreement between the children's and their parents' ratings. Goals identified by the children differed from those identified by their parents, with 48% of the children having no goals identical to those chosen by their parents. These results indicate that the Swedish version of the PEGS produces reliable outcomes comparable to the original version.

Key words::

• self-report
• goal-setting
• children

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish foundation, Majblomman, The Centre for Research & Development, Uppsala University/County Council of Gävleborg and The Strategic Research Programme in Care Sciences at Karolinska Institutet.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.