Development of the Leiden Independence Questionnaire for Support Staff: a measure of staff behaviour regarding promoting independence of people with intellectual disabilities.

The measure is based on staff self-report, so answers may be subjective or socially desirable; staff may overestimate how much they promote independence. The sample was 142 support staff from two care organisations, so it may not represent other services or countries. Participants worked with adults with moderate to mild intellectual disability without significant physical impairments, so it may not apply to people with severe intellectual disability or significant physical impairments. This was an initial validation only; the 22-item factor structure needs replication, and other reliability and validity properties, including sensitivity to change, were not tested. The 7-point scale had few responses in the lowest three categories. The low categories were less discriminating.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by Raamwerk and Leiden University, and the paper states this funding had no influence on data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, or the decision to submit.

Do not read the three staff behaviour areas as evidence that changing staff behaviour improves independence in people with intellectual disability. The study measured staff self-report and did not test client outcomes or an intervention.