Measurement properties of the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ) in persons on the autism spectrum: A preliminary Rasch analysisShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies, ISSN 1360-8592, E-ISSN 1532-9283, Vol. 38, p. 464-473Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Persons on the autism spectrum exhibit poorer body awareness than neurotypical persons. Since movement quality may be regarded as an expression of body awareness, assessment of movement quality is important. Sound assessments of measurement properties are essential if reliable decisions about body awareness interventions for persons on the autism spectrum are to be made, but there is insufficient research. Objective: To assess measurement properties of the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ) in an autism and a neurotypical reference group. Methods: Persons on the autism spectrum (n=108) and neurotypical references (n=32) were included. All were assessed with BAS MQ. Data were analyzed according to the Rasch model. Results: BAS MQ was found to have acceptable unidimensionality, supported by the fit statistics. The hierarchical ordering showed that coordination ability was the most difficult, followed by stability and relating. Response category functioning worked as intended for 19 out of 23 items. There were few difficult items, which decreased targeting. Reliability measures were good. BAS MQ discriminated between the autism and the reference groups, with the autism group exhibiting poorer movement quality, reflecting clinical observations and previous research. Conclusions: BAS MQ was found to have acceptable measurement properties, though suffering from problems with targeting item difficulty to person ability for persons on the autism spectrum. The BAS MQ may, along with experienced movement quality, contribute to clinically relevant information of persons on the autism spectrum, although we encourage refinements and further analyses to improve its measurement properties.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Churchill Livingstone , 2024. Vol. 38, p. 464-473
Keywords [en]
adolescent; adult; analysis of variance; Article; autism; autism assessment; Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality; controlled study; correlation analysis; cross-sectional study; differential item functioning; female; human; item separation index; item separation reliability; major clinical study; male; mean square statistics; motor coordination; person separation index; person separation reliability; preliminary data; Rasch analysis; reliability; sample size; scoring system; standardized fit statistics; statistical analysis; statistical parameters; statistics
National Category
Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-72782DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2024.01.004Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85188440279OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-72782DiVA, id: diva2:1858335
Note
We acknowledge all the participants. The study was supported by the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, Sweden and funded by Habilitation & Health in Region Västra Götaland, Sweden; the Skaraborg Institute for Research and Development, Sweden; and the Renee Eander Fund, Sweden. The funding sources had no active involvement in the conduct of the research.
2024-05-162024-05-162025-09-23Bibliographically approved