Psychometric properties and preliminary normative standardization of the Sensory Processing Measure-Preschool (SPM-P) among albanian preschool children

Abstract Sensory processing difficulties in preschool children may affect social participation, self-regulation, praxis and readiness for structured learning. In Albania, standardized tools for assessing sensory processing remain limited. This thesis examined the psychometric properties and preliminary normative standardization of the Albanian version of the Sensory Processing Measure–Preschool (SPM-P). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 307 Albanian preschool children. The normative sample included 257 children recruited from preschools and nurseries in Durrës, Lushnjë and Kavajë, while the clinical comparison sample included 50 children with reported clinical or neurodevelopmental diagnoses. Parents completed the Home Form and educators completed the School Form. The Albanian adaptation was developed with reference to the Italian SPM-P manual, followed by linguistic-cultural review and pilot testing. Analyses included descriptive statistics, preliminary percentiles, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, standard error of measurement, corrected item-total correlations, inter-scale correlations, exploratory factor analysis, Home–School agreement, discriminative validity and exploratory ROC analysis. The Albanian SPM-P showed acceptable to strong internal consistency across most Home and School Form scales. Test–retest reliability over a two-week interval indicated good-to-excellent temporal stability, particularly for the Total Sensory Systems and Overall Difficulty scores. Inter-scale correlations and exploratory factor analysis supported the construct coherence of the instrument. Children in the clinical group had substantially higher SPM-P scores than children in the normative group, supporting discriminative validity. Preliminary percentile values provided an initial reference framework for Albanian preschool children. The Albanian SPM-P demonstrated promising reliability, temporal stability, construct validity and discriminative capacity. The findings support its use as a structured assessment tool for preschool sensory-processing behaviours in Albania. Future studies should validate national norms in larger representative samples.