The Assessment of Self-Determination in Spanish and American Adolescents: The Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report.
The Self-Determination Inventory works across U.S. and Spanish teens with and without ID, so you can add this quick student survey to your transition assessments right away.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested whether the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report works the same way for U.S. and Spanish teens. They gave the survey to adolescents with and without intellectual disability in both countries. The goal was to see if scores mean the same thing across cultures and ability levels.
What they found
The inventory showed cross-cultural validity. Teens in both countries answered items consistently, whether they had ID or not. A few items behaved slightly different for Spanish students with ID, but overall the tool held up well across groups.
How this fits with other research
Wilson et al. (2023) and Pellicano et al. (2022) also found strong validity for self-report tools designed for teens with ID. Their work focused on mental wellbeing and depression, while this study tackled self-determination. Together they show teens with ID can reliably report on their own thoughts and feelings when given the right tools.
Maïano et al. (2011) and An et al. (2015) echo the same message in French and Chinese samples. All these papers support cross-cultural use of adapted measures, though each targets a different construct. The pattern is clear: good psychometrics travel well.
Mesker et al. (2025) sounds like a contradiction at first. They say their new emotional-development questionnaire still needs item tweaks. The difference is timing. Pitchford et al. (2019) finished validation and recommend cautious use, while Mesker et al. (2025) are still mid-process. Both agree careful item review is key.
Why it matters
You can now use the Self-Determination Inventory with confidence in U.S. and Spanish teens, including those with ID. Check the few flagged items when you score Spanish students with ID, but otherwise proceed. Adding this quick self-report gives your students a voice in their own transition planning and helps you write goals that build choice-making, problem-solving, and self-advocacy skills.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the cross-cultural validity of the Self-Determination Inventory: Student Report, a newly developed measure of self-determination grounded in Causal Agency Theory. The tool was translated to Spanish and administered to American and Spanish adolescents. The sample was structured to include adolescents with and without intellectual disability in both cultural contexts. More than 3,000 students in the U.S. and Spain aged 13 to 22 completed the assessment. Findings suggest that the same set of items can be used across cultural contexts and in youth with and without intellectual disability, although there are some specific differences in item functioning across students with and without intellectual disability in Spain that must be further researched. There were specific patterns of differences in latent self-determination means, with students with intellectual disability scoring lower in the U.S. and Spain. Implications for assessment research and practice in diverse cultural contexts are explored.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2019 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-57.4.274