A generic measure of Quality of Life for children aged 3-8 years: results of two preliminary studies.

Preliminary findings from the development of a new quality of life (QoL) measure for children aged 3-8 years are presented in two studies. Thirty-six children (5-6 years) completed a 10-item measure in Study 1, which included ratings of their abilities and 'happiness'. The children also completed an established QoL measure and 24 parents completed a proxy QoL measure. Preliminary support for the face and construct validity of the new measure is reported. There were correlations between the children's scores on the two measures (p < 0.05). However, child and parent scores were not correlated (p = 0.65). Twenty-four children (3-4 years) completed a modified version of the new QoL measure in Study 2, which consisted of 23 items. The internal reliability of the measure and the speed of children's responses allowed comparison of the efficacy of two response formats. Significant differences in speed were found in children's responses using different response formats, and differences in the internal consistency of the measure. Eighteen parents completed a proxy QoL measure, as in Study 1. Child and parent scores on the two measures were not correlated (p = 0.23). These studies highlight the difficulties in obtaining self-report QoL data from children below 5 years.