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Psychometric properties and gender invariance of the Chinese version of the self-report pediatric quality of life inventory version 4.0: short form is acceptable

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the psychometric properties and gender invariance of the Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) for 8- to 12-year-olds.

Methods

Psychometric testing and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used with a convenience sample of 8- to 12-year-old children (n = 479) for PedsQL full and short forms.

Results

The internal consistency reliability was satisfactory for all subscales and total scores (Cronbach’s α = 0.73–0.90), except for the school subscale (0.68 [full form], 0.62 [short form]). Test–retest reliability was 0.67–0.84. Convergent validity was supported by the correlation between the Children’s Depression Inventory and PedsQL psychosocial subscale (r = −0.69). Construct validity determined using CFA showed a better model fit in the short form (RMSEA = 0.06) than in the full form (RMSEA = 0.08). Measurement invariance across gender determined using nested CFA models showed that all absolute ΔRMSEA values were <0.01.

Conclusions

The Chinese version of the PedsQL is a relatively reliable and valid instrument, and the PedsQL short form showed a better construct validity than did the full form. Measurement across gender was invariant; therefore, the comparisons of quality of life between boys and girls were appropriate.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

CFA:

Confirmatory factor analysis

CDI:

Children’s depression inventory

PedsQL:

Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0

QoL:

Quality of life

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the participants and their teachers, who helped recruit the participants.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan

    Chung-Ying Lin & Hui-Ing Ma

  2. Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Hui-Ing Ma

  3. Institute of Education, College of Social Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Wei-Ming Luh

  4. Graduate Institute of Exercise Science, Taipei Physical Education College, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ai-Lun Yang

  5. Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei, Taiwan

    Chia-Ting Su

  6. Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Jung-Der Wang

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  1. Chung-Ying Lin
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Correspondence to Hui-Ing Ma.

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Lin, CY., Luh, WM., Yang, AL. et al. Psychometric properties and gender invariance of the Chinese version of the self-report pediatric quality of life inventory version 4.0: short form is acceptable. Qual Life Res 21, 177–182 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9928-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-9928-1

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