Instrument
The PEM-CY is a parent-report instrument that examines participation
and environment factors that affect the participation of
school-age children (5e17y of age) across 3 settings: home,
school, and community.19,32,33 It was initially designed as an
online survey for use in population-based research.32,33
PEM-CY participation items for each setting represent broad
types of activities typically performed in that setting. For each
activity type, parents are asked (a) how frequently their child
participates (neverZ0 to dailyZ7); (b) how involved their child
is while participating (minimallyZ1 to veryZ5); and (c)
whether they desire change in their child’s participation (no or
yes; if yes, parents identify where change is desired: frequency,
involvement, and/or variety). Parents are then asked whether
certain features of the environment help or make it harder for
their child to participate in activities in that setting (not an issue,
usually helps, sometimes helps/sometimes makes harder, usually
makes harder) or about perceived adequacy/availability of
resources (not needed, usually yes, sometimes yes/sometimes no,
usually no).
PEM-CY summary scores and items pertaining to the
community setting were examined in this study. The 5 summary
scores examined are described in table 1. Prior research indicated
that test-retest reliability was moderate to excellent for the
community summary scores (intraclass correlations ranging from
.66 to .96) and for individual items (percent agreements ranging
from .73 to .93).32 Internal consistency was reported to be
moderate to good for the community summary scores (Cronbach
a ranging from .70 to .83).32