Childhood acquired brain injury (ABI) is the leading cause of acquired disability in childhood, with significant consequences on independence, academic achievement and participation. The “Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation” (CASP; Bedell 2004) has been specifically developed to assess participation following childhood ABI. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the French version of the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation.

Cross-sectional, monocentric study. The CASP questionnaire was given to 133 caregivers of children or adolescents (5 to 18 years) who were followed-up in a rehabilitation department following ABI. The CASP is comprised of 20 items in 4 subsections: (1) home participation; (2) neighborhood and community participation; (3) school participation; (4) home and community living activities. Parents are asked to rate the 20 items of the CASP using a four-point Likert scale: (4=aged expected; 3=somewhat limited; 2=very limited; 1=unable), or “not applicable”. Cronbach's alpha and factor analyses were performed to examine the psychometric properties of the French translation of the CASP and correlations of the CASP with demographic and clinical factors were explored.

Eighty-five parents [(64%response rate; 61% boys; age at onset 5.66 years (SD=3.9); age at assessment 10.51 years (SD=3.4)] answered the questionnaire. There was no significant difference between respondents and non-respondents regarding demographic, medical, injury severity or level of neurological or cognitive impairment. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach alpha 0.84). Factor analysis yielded a five-factor structure explaining 88% of the variance. The total score of the CASP was correlated with the mother's education level (P=0.04), but not with any of the other medical data, such as age at injury, age at assessment, injury severity, clinical condition (presence of hemiplegia, epilepsia, cerebellar signs), intellectual ability or number of ongoing rehabilitation types.

Our results confirm the cross-cultural psychometric properties of the French adaptation of the CASP. Interestingly, the CASP was not correlated with any of the clinical factors. Parental ratings of their child's participation probably rely on other factors such as emotional status, coping ability and environmental factors.