Development and Validation of Work-related Social Skills Scale for Adolescents and Adults in their 20s With Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this study is to develop a scale that measures the work-related social skills of adolescents and adults in their 20s with developmental disabilities and to verify its reliability and validity. A literature review was conducted on prior studies about work-related social skills to derive their concepts and components. A total of 256 initial items were extracted from the review and analysis of measurement tools used to measure social skills and related variables in the preceding study, as well as transition assessment and vocational tools. Next, the content validity was conducted to examine the draft of the scale from experts in vocational education and employment support, and a preliminary survey was conducted on 24 experts. Subsequently, a 68-item questionnaire for the main survey was finalized after modification based on feedback from respondents in the preliminary survey and review by experts. The main survey was conducted on 234 experts in vocational education and employment support, including special education teachers in high schools and post-secondary programs. A total of 223 questionnaires were collected to analyze the reliability and validity of the scale. Finally, the final 37 items were derived from the exploratory factor analysis(EFA) that includes work-related attitude factor(11 items), communication factor(10 items), social problem-solving factor(10 items), and interpersonal relationship factor(6 items). Correlation analysis was conducted to verify the concurrent validity, and the correlation coefficient indicated a significant positive correlation. The overall Cronbach’s α and its value for four factors also indicated high reliability. Based on the findings, the utilization strategies of this tool, the significance and limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research were discussed.