Tourette syndrome is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental movement disorder, characterized by unwanted multiple motor and vocal tics, and lasting longer than a year. The unpredictable and abnormal tics result in negative effects on the physical, psychological, social, and academic domains of adolescents with Tourette syndrome. Worse still, they suffer difficulties in interpersonal interactions and drawbacks in adulthood. Therefore, developing a social adjustment scale suitable for adolescents with Tourette syndrome will facilitate the evaluation of their social adjustment and future studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the reliability and validity of the social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome.
Methods:
The in-depth interviews of this qualitative study are held with 16 adolescents with Tourette syndrome to explore their social adjustment experience. Meanwhile, the dimensions and items of the scale are based on relevant academic papers. In this study, 5 experts are invited for expert validity testing regarding the appropriateness, comprehensiveness, and relevance of the scale. Moreover, 100 adolescents with Tourette syndrome are taken as the samples for analysis of the reliability and validity of the social adjustment scale for Adolescents with Tourette syndrome.
Results:
The mean content validity index of this study was 86.4%. Originally, the questionnaire consisted of 26 items; however, after item analysis, correlation analysis, and factor analysis, only 22 items were retained, and a higher score indicated stronger social adjustment. According to the factor analysis and the maximum variance method, four dimensions formed the best mode, including “Academic performance”, “Familial relationship”, “Peer relationship”, and “Self-disease relationship”, which could explain 52% of the variances. Cronbach’s alphas of the social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome were 0.81. The Stress Index for Children or Adolescents with Tourette Syndrome was adopted to test criterion-related validity, and the result indicated negative correlation.
Conclusion:
The social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome is a self-management tool developed according to the understanding of the social adjustment experience of adolescents with Tourette syndrome, and is designed to evaluate the social adjustment of adolescents with Tourette syndrome. The scale features high expert validity, inner consistency, and construct validity. The results of the scale can be taken as the basis for understanding and evaluating the social adjustment of adolescents with Tourette syndrome. The social adjustment scale for adolescents with Tourette syndrome is an ideal tool to evaluate social adjustment, and can serve as reference for the design and development of interference measures of clinical medical workers, relevant counselors, and educators.