Parental management of developmental coordination disorder: Validation of a French translation of the Parental Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire

Abstract

Background: Best practices in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) recommend building parental capacities to enhance children’s functioning but few outcome measures are available to document the impact of such interventions. The Parent Knowledge and Skills Questionnaire (PKSQ) is a valid instrument currently only available in English evaluating parental perception of their ability to manage their child, understand DCD’s impact and use knowledge about DCD. The aim of the study was to translate the PKSQ in French and assess the factor structure consistency between the French and English versions.

Methods: PKSQ was translated in French using a back-translation method. Parents of children with DCD were recruited in collaboration with the DCD association and rehabilitation centers. Parents completed the questionnaire online (n = 99). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted based on the questionnaire response data and estimated item-domain correlations were compared with the English version.

Results: All items of the original PKSQ were culturally appropriate in the Quebec French context and were thus included in the final version (n = 22). The French questionnaire version showed overall good consistency with the English version. The frequency of statistically inferior item-domain correlations was consistent with the expected rate of 5% under the no difference assumption (3/22, 95% confidence interval: 3% to 35%). Items showed moderate to large correlations with their underlying construct (estimated item-domain correlations between 0.45-0.91).

Conclusions: Results suggest the French version of the PKSQ is consistent with the 3-factor structure of the English version, and may now be used to evaluate interventions based on DCD best practices.