Abstract
•The Arabic Sensory Processing Measure shows excellent discriminant validity.•The Arabic Sensory Processing Measure has high internal consistency for the total and subscale scores.•The Arabic Sensory Processing Measure’s factor structure is comparable to that of the English version of the measure.
There are few standardized and validated tools to evaluate sensory processing difficulties in Arabic countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of Arabic versions of the Home and Preschool- Home versions of the Sensory Processing Measure(SPM), an instrument widely used for clinical and research purposes.
The overall study sample included 276 children (mean age = 6.7 years; range: 2 to 12), with 192 children (151 males) with a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 84 typically developing (TD; 48 males) children. The SPM-Home sub-sample consisted of 117 children and the SPM-Preschool-Home sample consisted of 159 children.
Mean scores of the total SPM-Home and of the subscale scores were significantly (p < .001) higher in the ASD group compared to the TD group, with large effect sizes. Similar results were obtained in the SPM-P-Home for the total score and five of the eight subscales. With one exception, the total scale and the subscales of each measure had good to excellent reliability estimates (median Cronbach's alpha: .86). The factor structure in this sample was consistent with that established in previous studies. The measures also demonstrated good evidence of discriminant validity in ROC analyses.
The findings of this study establish the reliability and validity of the Arabic versions of both the SPM-Home and the SPM-P-Home. The Arabic versions of these measures will enable healthcare professionals to better understand the sensory processing difficulties of their Arabic-speaking clients, including those with ASD.