Validation of a French adaptation of the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale in its abbreviated form, for 5- to 11-year-old children with and without intellectual disability

ABSTRACT

Background: The quality of life (QOL) of children with and without intellectual disability (ID) has become a growing concern in the literature but the QOL instruments are not adapted for use with young children and children with ID. The objective of this study was to validate a French adaptation of the abbreviated form of the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS).

Method: Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the data collected from 411 children aged between 5 and 11 years old. Internal consistency, test–retest fidelity, and convergent validity were tested.

Results: The preliminary results of this study show that the model fitted the data collected to assess the life satisfaction of children, χ² (395) = 705.340; p < .001; CFI = 0.911; TLI = 0.902; RMSEA = 0.044. Very good levels of internal consistency were obtained for both children with and without ID, with coefficients ranging from 0.70 to 0.88. The test–retest coefficients calculated after a 2-week interval highlighted a moderate (coefficients lower than 0.70) to weak temporal stability, which seemed more pronounced in children with ID.

Conclusion: Despite some limitations, this instrument could be very useful for childhood professionals. It will enable them to assess the perception that children have of their wellbeing in the perspective of promoting their QOL. This scale also provides researchers in psychology with the opportunity to enrich their knowledge on the QOL of children with ID.

KEYWORDS:

• children with intellectual disability
• quality of life
• wellbeing
• life satisfaction scale
• French validation
• self-assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), ID is a disorder with onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social, and practical domains.

2 CLIS 1 are classes for children aged 7 to 12 years with significant problems in cognitive functions. They enable pupils with disability to follow a curriculum in an ordinary school in a specialised class of no more than 12 children. The appropriate physical adaptations and teaching materials are provided according to the age, disability, and capacities of each child.

3 Social categories determined according to the grid used in surveys by the French Direction de l’Evaluation de la Prospective et de la Performance (DEPP; Evaluation, Forecasting and Performance Department) of the Ministry of National Education, based on the socio-professional category of the reference person of the family or the father.

4 The fit of the model for the data collected with the child form were: χ²(33) = 66.34, p < .001; RMSEA = 0.050; CFI = 0.939; TLI = 0.917; internal consistency: positive affectivity = 0.57 and negative affectivity = 0.65; and the parent form, χ²(31) = 66.68, p < .001; RMSEA = 0.056; CFI = 0.946; TLI = 0.927; internal consistency: positive affectivity = 0.71 and negative affectivity = 0.66.

5 Visual supports are available upon request by contacting the first author.