Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the engagement in meaningful activities survey

INTRODUCTION: Engaging in meaningful activities contributes to health and well-being. Therefore, it is important to measure this with reliable and valid evaluation tools. The Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS-VL) has been cross-culturally validated in Flemish and the psychometric properties determined.

METHOD: The adaptation process followed the guidelines 'Translation and Adaptation of Instruments' and 'Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Self Report'. A forward and backward translation was performed. Three authors of the original EMAS were in close contact. Pretesting and cognitive interviews were performed on a sample of 10 chronically ill individuals. Psychometric analysis of survey data, collected during the COVID-19 lockdown (N = 1938 Belgian adults, Flemish speaking), was performed. Internal consistency, factorial validity and construct validity were examined.

RESULTS: The adaptation process involved an accurate analysis of the items of the EMAS by the expert panel and EMAS authors. The EMAS-VL showed high reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.91). Exploratory factor analysis discerned an interpretable two-factorial structure of the EMAS-VL. As hypothesized, moderate associations were found between GHQ-12 (r = -0.57) and CD-RISC (r = 0.50) so the EMAS-VL possesses satisfactory construct validity as well.

CONCLUSION: EMAS-VL is shown to be a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating meaning in activities in Flanders.