Volitional Questionnaire

Last Updated

May 07, 2020

Purpose

The Volitional Questionnaire (VQ) provides an understanding of a person's motivation and information about how the environment affects volition and participation in meaningful activities by systematically capturing the interaction between the person and their environment (De Las Heras, Geist, Kielhofner, & Li, 2007).

Link to Instrument

Instrument Details

Acronym VQ

Area of Assessment

Self-efficacy
Behavior
Life Participation
Insight

Assessment Type

Observer

Administration Mode

Computer

Cost

Not Free

Actual Cost

$40.00

Cost Description

Cost includes access to the full PDF assessment manual, fillable PDF assessment forms, and online forms

Mixed Populations

Mental Health

Assessor will observe the participant for a fixed period, usually in the participant's natural environment. The assessor will note the participant’s motivation to interact with the environment and will rate the participant’s volition using a fourteen item rating scale. The assessor can make multiple observations and compare the participant’s motivation in different environments using an Environmental Characteristics Form
Participant is assigned a score on each item depending on if their behavior was passive (score=1), hesitant (score=2), involved (score=3) or spontaneous (score=4)
Minimum score = 14
Maximum score = 56
The VQ Manual provides information on administering the VQ, as well as descriptions of criteria for the rating items.
The VQ has been translated into 17 languages

Number of Items

VQ manual and rating form

5-30 minutes

Required Training

Reading an Article/Manual

Child

8 - 12

years

Adolescent

13 - 17

years

Adult

18 - 64

years

Elderly Adult

years

Instrument Reviewers

Initially reviewed by University of Illinois at Chicago Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students: Nicholas Hagens, Miriam Hoffmann, Michelle Moy, and Giovanna Savastano.

Updated by Timothy Curtis, Rush Medical school

ICF Domain

Activity
Participation

Measurement Domain

Activities of Daily Living
Cognition
Emotion

Considerations

The VQ was originally designed to evaluate volition in people who have significant limitations in cognitive, verbal, or physical abilities, but has also been found useful with a wide range of clients, including higher functioning clients

The VQ is designed for use with older children, adolescents, adults, and older persons. The Pediatric Volitional Questionnaire (PVQ) is generally used with children between 2-7. The VQ is generally more appropriate developmentally for children who are older than 8, but since the PVQ is designed to reflect developmentally appropriate items for younger children, the PVQ may be appropriate for older children who are developmentally delayed

The VQ has been translated from English to many other languages: be aware that some things may be lost in translation, or some aspects of the assessment may not be as applicable in other non-English cultures. https://www.moho.uic.edu/resources/translations.aspx
Client’s may show less volition in interacting with their environment when they have been taken out of their cultural context.
Since people in different cultures have different ways of showing pride, the rater must consider what is a culturally appropriate way to display pride.
The VQ has a considerable ceiling effect and is most useful for clients who have considerable volitional problems.
It is recommended that more than a single observation be made, preferably in multiple environments and different times of the day.

Interrater/Intrarater Reliability

Psychiatric Illness and/or Developmental Disabilities: (Chern, Kielhofner, de las Heras, & Magalhaes, 1996; n= 43, mean age = 41 years)

Excellent interrater reliability: (ICC > .75 for all items; ICC > .90 for 10/14 items)

Construct Validity

Psychiatric Illness and/or Developmental Disabilities: (Chern, Kielhofner, de las Heras, & Magalhaes, 1996; n= 18, mean age = 33 years)

The revised 1996 version of the VQ was found to have only one of fourteen items that lacked goodness of fit. This met the author’s criteria to demonstrate unidimensionality of the tool.

Mental Illness, Neurological Disorders, Geriatrics & Learning Disability: (Fan, Keponen, Piikki, Popova, & Taylor, 2019; n=226)

Extent to which all 14 items in the Finnish VQ measure volition fit the Rasch model’s expectation with acceptable values of MnSq and Zstd.
- MnSq ranged between 0.62 and 1.14
- Zstd ranged from -4.8 to 1.9
High item separation reliability (0.99) indicated that the sample size of the present study is large enough to precisely locate the items on the latent variable.

Psychiatric Illness & People with Disabilities (mostly HIV/AIDS): (Li, Kiehlehofner, 2004; n=36, mean age = 39.72 years)

The mean square statistics (MnSq) show that no item misfits, thus indicating that all the 14 items work well together to define a single unidimensional construct of volition.
The item separation ratio is 3.40 with an item separation reliability of 0.92, indicating that all the items are well-differentiated in terms of their level of difficulty.

Content Validity

Psychiatric Illness and/or Developmental Disabilities: (Chern, Kielhofner, de las Heras, & Magalhaes, 1996; n=18, mean age = 33 years)

A group of 30 experienced occupational therapists with working knowledge of the Model of Human Occupation supported the content validity of the VQ, agreeing that the items consistently described volitional content.

Floor/Ceiling Effects

Mental Illness, Neurological Disorders, Geriatrics & Learning Disability: (Fan, Keponen, Piikki, Popova, & Taylor, 2019; n=226)

Excellent: No floor effects
Adequate: Ceiling effects, 3.1% received maximum scores