The Child and Adolescent Scale of Environment (CASE): Further validation with youth who have chronic conditions.

OBJECTIVE To further validate the Child and Adolescent Scale of Environment (CASE). METHODS Baseline data (n = 430) were analyzed from a longitudinal study on quality of life for youth with chronic conditions ages 11-17 in Ontario, Canada. Internal consistency and structure, and convergent and discriminant validity were examined via Cronbach's alpha (α), exploratory factor analyses, correlation analyses and ANOVA. RESULTS The CASE had high internal consistency (α = 0.89). A three-factor solution was produced with 55% variance explained: (1) Community/Home Resources, (2) School Resources and (3) Physical Design/Access). CASE total and factor scores were significantly correlated with scores from measures of impairment and participation (i.e. youth with more problematic environments had more severe impairment and more restricted participation). Significant differences in CASE scores existed for primary condition and impairment severity, but not for age or gender. CONCLUSION Results provide additional CASE validation evidence. Further testing is needed with more diverse and representative samples.