Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Social Participation Questionnaire: A Methodological and Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose Social participation is vital for the health maintenance of general populations as well as the functional recovery and social ties of clinical patients. To develop a Social Participation Questionnaire (SPQ) to evaluate participation in social activities in an individual’s life and to test the reliability and validity of the SPQ. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Community and clinic in China. Subjects A total of 1419 healthy adults and 486 breast cancer patients. Measures The initial items were developed from a theoretical framework, a literature review, and Delphi expert consultation. Item analysis, exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), criterion validity, construct reliability, and internal consistency reliability were performed to examine the psychometric properties of the SPQ. Results The final SPQ was comprised of 11 different types of social activities, falling under the 3 dimensions of activities of daily life, sports and entertainment activities, and social service activities. EFA explained 50.674% of the total item variance contributing to the tool. CFA showed that the SPQ fit well. The total SPQ score was significantly associated with social network, quality of life, and cognitive function ( r = |.180∼.466|, P < .001). The internal consistency coefficient was acceptable (range of Cronbach’s alpha, .695 to .720). Conclusions The SPQ has robust properties, wide application, and provides a culturally relevant tool to evaluate the social participation of individuals, thus facilitating rigorous clinical and population-based research.