Assessing stable validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the individualized supported employment fidelity scale: A replication.
BACKGROUND
The Japanese version of the individualized Supported Employment Fidelity scale (JiSEF) was developed by modifying the 25-item Individual Placement and Support Fidelity Scale (IPS-25). While a preliminary study partly confirmed the concurrent validity with vocational outcomes, this replication study aimed to examine the stability of the concurrent validity and the inter-rater reliability of the JiSEF and to test its convergent validity with IPS-25.


METHODS
Fidelity assessments were conducted in 2016 (n = 17), 2017 (n = 13), and 2018 (n = 18) to examine the employment rate and the fidelity scores at the agency level. We also evaluated the fidelity scores for the IPS-25 in 2018. We examined the associations between the fidelity scale scores and vocational outcomes for the concurrent validity and between the fidelity scales for convergent validity. The inter-rater reliability was examined in the 2016 and 2017 assessments.


RESULTS
High intraclass correlation coefficients (0.93 in 2016 and 0.92 in 2017) were obtained for the inter-rater reliability. The JiSEF score in each year was associated with the agency employment rate (r = 0.710, P = 0.001 in 2016; r = 0.722, P = 0.005 in 2017; and r = 0.665, P = 0.003 in 2018). A supplementary longitudinal data analysis also confirmed the association between the JiSEF score and the employment outcomes. Additionally, the JiSEF was significantly correlated with the IPS-25 (r = 0.760, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study stably replicated good inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the JiSEF. Additionally, the convergent validity was confirmed. Further studies with large samples are needed to confirm these findings.
['Yamaguchi|Sosei|S|0000-0002-0579-4431', 'Sato|Sayaka|S|0000-0002-3386-9576', 'Ojio|Yasutaka|Y|0000-0002-9660-206X', 'Shiozawa|Takuma|T|0000-0002-9307-576X', 'Matsunaga|Asami|A|', 'Taneda|Ayano|A|', 'Sawada|Utako|U|', 'Yoshida|Koji|K|', 'Fujii|Chiyo|C|']
validity supported employment fidelity vocational outcome mental illness