Research Information System
PAMUKKALE UNIVERSITESI EGITIM FAKULTESI DERGISI-PAMUKKALE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, no.58, pp.140-178, 2023 (ESCI)
Research reveals that the perception of severity of disability (SoD) is associated with other
psychological variables of individuals. It is indicated that as the SoD increases, psychological wellbeing of individuals is affected, and therefore, certain tools are required to measure the SoD. This
research is a scale development study in which 1053 parents participated in interviews (8), pilot
implementations (57), main implementation (688) and CFA implementation. During this research, an
item pool was created, expert opinions were obtained, and eventually, a pilot study was conducted.
Validity and reliability data were reported through principal component analysis (PCA),
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability analysis. A five-factor structure containing 34
items emerged as the result of a PCA, and a follow-up CFA confirmed this structure. The total of the
Parental Perception of Severity of Disability Scale (PPSDS) variant was calculated as 62.27% and
alpha .95, and a significant correlation was found at the level of .50 between the PPSDS and the
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Also, the result for the test-retest reliability was .81 and split-half
reliability .81. The PPSDS identifies the mild, moderate and severe groups in two categories based
on the SoD. Subfactors vary between .44 and .57 of the average variance extracted (AVE). The
PPSDS can be suggested as a valid and reliable tool. Parents’ perception of disability was verified in
line with the relevant literature. Children’s SoD can be viewed from parents’ perspective through the
PPSDS in addition to their current state. Therefore, professionals in the field can use the PPSDS, and
its relationship with psychological variables can be examined