Psychometric Validation of the Meaningful Role Functioning Questionnaire in a Sample of 229 Women with Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Background: Participation is one of the most important interdisciplinary outcome variables in biopsychosocial conceptions of health and disability. While the literature surrounding social and community participation in persons with disabilities indicates that participation is a highly subjective construct, there are few known psychometrically validated instruments designed to measure participation in a way that captures the subjective nature of the concept. The present study aimed to develop and test a measure of participation in a way that prioritizes roles that are subjectively meaningful to the individual. Objective: To establish the psychometric properties of the "Meaningful Role Functioning Questionnaire" (MRFQ) a new life role participation scale intended to measure life role functioning in a way that weighs life roles that are more important to the individual more heavily than those that are less important to the individual. Methods: 229 women with fibromyalgia took an online survey measuring the following biopsychosocial constructs: meaningful role functioning, participation in society, perceived social support, core self-evaluations, fibromyalgia severity, and life satisfaction. Findings: The 4-week test-retest reliability coefficient for the MRFQ was 0.74, indicating acceptable reliability for this measure of life role functioning. The MRFQ was significantly correlated in the expected directions with several external correlates, establishing its construct validity. Conclusions: The MRFQ is a reliable and valid subjective measure of life role functioning in women with fibromyalgia. Future research should seek to validate the scale in a wider range of disability populations and the general public.