Convergent validity between the school-age versions of the Sensory Processing Measure 2 (SPM2) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP2): A pilot study

Introduction

The Sensory Processing Measure 2 (SPM2) and the Sensory Profile 2 (SP2) are two sensory processing scales often used by occupational therapists. The SPM2 and SP2 both claim to assess aspects of children's sensory processing. This cross-sectional study examined the convergent validity of the SPM2-Home Form (SPM2-HF) and Child SP2 for school-aged neurotypical children.

Methods

Thirty parents/caregivers of neurotypical children aged 7 to 12 completed the SPM2-HF and the Child SP2 about their child. Spearman rho's correlation coefficient with bootstrapping was used to investigate the correlations among the sensory, behavioural, and quadrant scores of the Child SP2 and SPM2-HF subscale scores.

Consumer and Community Involvement

Given the topic, consumers and community members were not involved in the design, execution, or write up of the study results.

Results

Several statistically significant correlations were found between the sensory and quadrant subscales of the Child SP2 with the SPM-HF. Strong to moderate correlations were established between the sensory subscales of the Child SP2 and the SPM2-HF, ranging from 0.40 to 0.74 (p < 0.05). Additionally, correlations between the quadrant subscales of the Child SP2 and the subscales of the SPM2-HF ranged from weak (0.38) to strong (0.77) correlations (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

These results provide evidence of convergent validity between the SPM2-HF and Child SP2 for neurotypical school-aged children. Further research on the psychometric properties of the SPM2-HF and Child SP2 is recommended.