Systematic review of self-concept measures for primary school aged children with cerebral palsy

myTREEHOUSE Self‐Concept Assessment: preliminary psychometric analysis of a new self‐concept assessment for children with cerebral palsy

“…This finding is comparable with other CP‐specific measures of psychological constructs, such as the CP Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children (ICC=0.76–0.89) . Test–retest reliability is a recommended inclusion in psychometric testing but has not been consistently reported in evaluations of other self‐concept assessments . The current findings indicate that the myTREEHOUSE self‐concept constructs are fairly stable and can be reliably assessed over time.…”

“…Before this study, self‐concept assessments developed for children with typical development were used for children with CP; however, those assessments did not fully capture the self‐concept of children with CP. myTREEHOUSE was developed in response to the need for population specific self‐concept assessments for children with physical disability, like CP, and the lack of well‐validated assessments for this population …”

“…Furthermore, myTREEHOUSE also incorporates a Personal Concern Score that provides clinicians with the ability to identify domains of particular concern to the child. Harter introduced a similar scoring format in the Self‐Perception Profile for Children and stressed its significance in interpreting self‐concept, but this type of rating has not been included in other self‐concept assessments used with children with CP . The myTREEHOUSE Personal Concern Score allows clinicians to target specific domains that are negatively impacting a child's overall self‐concept.…”

“…However, concerns have been raised over the meaning of these findings, as all have used self‐concept assessments designed for children with typical development. Our systematic review and others have indicated that self‐concept assessments designed for children with typical development are unsuitable for children with disabilities. In addition, these assessments may present children with constructs that do not reflect their differing life experiences, or omit other important constructs.…”

“…myTREEHOUSE then assesses each Performance Perspective across eight domains, including five domains from assessments for children with typical development that have been employed for children with CP, and three additional CP‐specific domains derived from our Delphi consensus survey . The domains identified from existing assessments that were supported by Delphi survey participants are Physical Appearance, Learning Abilities, Social Skills, Emotional Regulation, and General Self.…”