Le concept d’Ecart comme mesure de la qualité de vie infantile : validation de l’Inventaire Systémique de Qualité de Vie pour Enfants

Purpose: The objective of this paper was to determine the interest and psychometric properties of a new QOL self-assessment questionnaire suitable for children 8 to 12 years old measuring alpha, beta and gamma changes: the “Inventaire Systémique de Qualité de vie pour Enfants” (ISQV-E©).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional validation study. 288 children have completed the ISQV-E. Other tools were used: The “Autoquestionnaire de Qualité de Vie Enfants Imagé” (AUQUEI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and socio-demographic data.

Results: The internal consistency of the four scores of the ISQV-E (state, goal, rank and gap) is satisfactory. All scores have their own specificity. The data show the convergent validity, sensitivity and applicability of the ISQV-E. On the other hand, no satisfactory factorial structure was found although a multidimensional theoretical perspective was applied.

Conclusions: The feasibility of the ISQV-E seems clearly demonstrated and the value of this new tool seems evident in contexts of physical, psychological or social problems. The validation study was promising but certain points such as test-retest reliability remain to be studied and the others, such as the absence of a satisfactory factorial structure, need to be examined again.