Psychometric evaluation of a scale to assess satisfaction with life among people with intellectual disabilities living in community residences

Background In the context of a health intervention among people with intellectual disabilities (ID), there was a need to assess satisfaction with some aspects of life, in order to monitor both potential positive and negative effects of the intervention. The aim of the present study was to develop and evaluate an easily administered scale for assessing satisfaction with home environment and leisure time among people with mild or moderate ID, living in community residences. Methods A number of questions were constructed to measure satisfaction with home environment and leisure time. The questions were answered by 132 adults with mild or moderate ID, living in community residences in Sweden. The dimensionality of the scale was evaluated by factor analysis, and the reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Results The analysis supported a four‐factor solution with 12 items. The four factors were: (I) Satisfaction with housing environment; (II) Satisfaction with life; (III) Satisfaction with meals; and (IV) Satisfaction with recreational activity. The four factors explained almost 70% of the variance in the data set. Cronbach alpha coefficients for all scales were above 0.70, indicating that the reliabilities of the scales were satisfactory. Correlations between the four sub‐scales ranged from 0.06 to 0.52, indicating low to moderate inter‐correlations between the four sub‐scales. Conclusion The scale has fairly good psychometric properties and is easy to administer. The scale, which can be further improved, can be an important resource in health intervention studies.