The Work and Social Adjustment Scale, Youth and Parent Versions: Psychometric Evaluation of a Brief Measure of Functional Impairment in Young People

• Published in: Child psychiatry and human development 2020-06, Vol.51 (3), p.453-460
• Main Authors: Jassi, Amita, Lenhard, Fabian, Krebs, Georgina, Gumpert, Martina, Jolstedt, Maral, Andrén, Per, Nord, Martina, Aspvall, Kristina, Wahlund, Tove, Volz, Chloe, Mataix-Cols, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adolescent; Adult; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and School Psychology; Divergence; Exploratory factor analysis; Factor analysis; Female; Functional impairment; Humans; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnosis; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - physiopathology; Original; Original Article; Parents; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales - standards; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Psychometrics - standards; Psychosocial Functioning; Quantitative psychology; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Self report; Sensitivity analysis; Sensitivity and Specificity; Social Adjustment; Social interactions; Youth
• ISSN: 0009-398X; 1573-3327; 1573-3327
• DOI: 10.1007/s10578-020-00956-z

The Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) is a brief global measure of functional impairment that is widely used in adult health. We have adapted the WSAS for its use in youth, the WSAS-Youth version (WSAS-Y) and WSAS-Parent version (WSAS-P). This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the scale. The internal consistency, factor structure, convergent and divergent validity, test–retest reliability and sensitivity to change of the WSAS-Y/P were studied in 525 children and adolescents with obsessive–compulsive disorder and related disorders receiving treatment. The internal consistency of the WSAS-Y/P was excellent across diagnostic groups and time-points. Exploratory factor analysis extracted a single-factor of functional impairment, explaining in excess of 85% of the variance. The test–retest reliability was adequate. The WSAS-Y/P correlated more strongly with other measures of functional impairment than with measures of symptom severity, indicating good convergent/divergent validity. Finally, the WSAS-Y/P was highly sensitive to change after treatment.