Reliability and Validity of the Child Sensory Profile 2 Spanish Translation

PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Spanish translation of the Children’s Sensory Profile 2 (CSP2). The CSP2 (Dunn, 2014) is an updated version of the widely used Sensory Profile. The CSP2 was translated into Spanish (SP-CSP2), yet reliability and validity had not been evaluated on the translated version. This study addressed this issue by analyzing a sample of participants who completed the Spanish version of the CSP2. This study adds to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s research priorities related to family and caregiver needs and development and transitions of individuals and families.

METHOD: This study used a retrospective design consisting of a reliability analysis of the SP-CSP2 and a comparison of the CSP2 in Spanish and English (validity). The CSP2 is an 86-item parent-report measure of a child’s sensory processing (Dunn, 2014). The CSP2 was normed on a national sample (N = 697) and demonstrates strong psychometric properties. The SP-CSP2 was translated from the original CSP2.

We recruited a nationally representative sample of Spanish-speaking parents of children in the United States. Recruitment was stratified to ensure a representative sample on the basis of child age, gender, and region of the country. For the reliability analysis, Spanish-speaking families included 141 children aged 3–14 (M = 104.7 mo, SD = 40.9) from the general population. 51% of the sample was male, and all participants were of Hispanic ethnicity. For the validity analysis, a subset of the reliability participants (n = 65) were matched by age and gender with a comparison group of English-speaking families (n = 65). Spanish-speaking caregivers completed the SP-CSP2 for their children.

For the reliability analysis, we calculated Cronbach’s alpha for the overall SP-CSP2 as well as for each sensory, behavioral, and quadrant score. We used multivariate analysis of variance to determine differences between the matched samples to evaluate validity.

RESULTS: Results from the reliability analysis indicate that the overall SP-CSP2 score and each sensory, behavior, and quadrant score demonstrate high reliability (all alpha coefficients >.90). For the validity study, the overall comparison was significant (Hotelling’s T = 10.09, p < .001). Post hoc analysis showed significant differences in Social (F = 4.41, p = .038), Behavior (F = 8.62, p = .004), and Registration (F = 4.10, p = .045), with the English-speaking children having higher scores (i.e., “more than others”).

CONCLUSION: This study shows that the SP-CSP2 demonstrates strong reliability and validity. The reliability analysis results demonstrate performance similar to that of the CSP2 standardization sample (Dunn, 2014). In the validity study, only three scores showed differences between the Spanish and English samples, demonstrating overall similarity in the reporting of sensory processing patterns between the two ethnic groups. In the case of Social, Behavior, and Registration scores, the children from Spanish-speaking homes engaged in the associated behaviors less often than the children in English-speaking homes. This information is important for researchers and practitioners to know when working with culturally diverse populations.

References

Dunn, W. (1997). The impact of sensory processing abilities on the daily lives of young children and their families: A conceptual model. Infants and Young Children, 9(4), 23–35.

Dunn, W. (2014). Sensory Profile 2: User’s manual. Bloomington, MN: Pearson.