The purpose of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the 8-item Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-8) among individuals (ages 18-29) with the chronic condition of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The study had three aims: 1) to determine the mean response for each emerging adulthood subscale; 2) to examine the factor structure of the IDEA-8; and 3) to determine the internal consistency reliability of the IDEA-8.
The IDEA-8 was developed and tested by Baggio and colleagues (2015) to measure features of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000, 2015). Emerging adulthood typically has several features: possibilities/optimism, instability, identity explorations, feeling in-between, and self-focus. The instrument has primarily been utilized among healthy emerging adults which report Cronbach’s alphas ranging from 0.64 – 0.89 for the original IDEA (31 items) and the revised IDEA (21 items). Emerging adults with chronic conditions may experience the features of emerging adulthood differently; therefore, this instrument should be examined among emerging adults with a chronic condition, such as IBD.
The majority of IBD patients are diagnosed during emerging adulthood (Plevinsky, Gumidyala, & Fishman, 2015). Typically, examining transitions between adolescence to adulthood within the IBD literature has focused on chronological age (Cho et al., 2018; Gumidyala et al., 2018; Stollon et al., 2017). Therefore, these is a need to examine developmental stages within the IBD population. Understanding the central concepts of this developmental stage may have implications for caring for IBD patients and can influence development of tailored interventions for emerging adults. Therefore, the IDEA-8 was examined within a population of IBD patients.
Methods:
This secondary analysis used data from a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from January 2018-Febuary 2018. Participants were recruited from Research Match, an online recruitment site, Facebook, a social media site, and word of mouth. Eligibility criteria included: ages 18 – 29 with a self-reported healthcare provider diagnosis of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, lived in the United States, understood written English, had access to the internet, and currently prescribed medication to manage their IBD. Participants were excluded if they were hospitalized within the past month or currently pregnant. Participants completed an online survey via Qualtrics. The first page contained an introduction to the study, instructions for the study, and the informed consent. The informed consent explained the survey was voluntary and that participants could stop completing the survey at any time. Participants completed the 8-item IDEA short form which includes four subscales: possibilities/optimism, instability, identity exploration, and feeling in-between (Baggio, Iglesias, Studer, & Gmel, 2015). Demographics included age, sex, education, income, and race/ethnicity. Clinical characteristics included type of IBD and time since diagnosis. Descriptive statistics were computed. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to describe the factor structure of the IDEA-8 and Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the internal consistently of the IDEA-8 dimensions.
Results:
This cross-sectional study (n=61) consisted predominantly of females (89%) diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (64%). For the IDEA-8 dimensions, the mean responses were between somewhat agree and strongly agree: possibility/optimism (M = 3.4; SD = 0.68) instability (M = 3.46; SD = 0.67), identity exploration (M = 3.33; SD = 0.68), and feeling in-between (M = 3.25; SD = 0.76). However, an exploratory factor analysis suggested 3 factors: optimism, instability, and combined identity exploration and feeling in-between. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total scale was acceptable (α = 0.70). Cronbach’s alpha for the three-factors as recommended by the exploratory factor analysis included: possibilities (α = 0.74), instability (α = 0.86), and the combined identity exploration and feeling in-between (α = 0.75).
Conclusion:
This study found that the IDEA-8 had a three-factor structure among individuals with IBD including: possibilities, instability, and combined identity exploration and feeling in-between. It may be that identity explorations and feeling in-between are conceptually similar within the IBD population and do not warrant separate factors; however, another possibility is that the shortened length of the scale may not capture the concepts of emerging adulthood. The internal consistency of the IDEA-8 was consistent with previous IDEA research. Having a valid and reliability measure for emerging adults that addresses developmental stage is useful within IBD since, since little research little has focused on developmental stage. A limitation is the need for additional measures that can be used for conceptual comparisons and validity testing. While examining the developmental stage of emerging adults in relationship to health outcomes is important, further research is needed prior to utilizing the IDEA-8 short form with research and clinical practice settings.