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    Occupation and social complexity
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007-07) Eakman, Aaron M., author; Routledge, publisher
    Applications of complexity science, including dynamic systems and chaos theories, have become ever-present in the social sciences. Diverse academic fields have begun to explore their central constructs from a complexity perspective. Occupational science has also begun to discover complexity science as an explanatory framework to aid in the study of occupation. Theoretical models, principles and empirical findings from a number of scholars of occupation suggest that the tenets of complexity may serve an important role in explicating the nature of occupation. However, applications of complexity science in the field of occupational science have almost exclusively focused on the system level of the human as a dynamic or chaotic system. In this article, I propose that the study of occupation should also be informed by adopting a social complexity perspective. This shift in analytic levels, in part, situates the study of occupation at the nexus of human-to-human interaction. Though a social level of analysis may restrict the attention given to any one individual, the resultant understanding of the manner by which individuals mutually influence each other via occupation would likely extend our views of the form, function and meaning of human occupation.
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    Convergent validity of the engagement in meaningful activities survey in a college sample
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Eakman, Aaron M., author; American Occupational Therapy Foundation, publisher
    The Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS) (Goldberg, Brintnell, & Goldberg, 2002) demonstrated sufficient psychometric properties in a sample of 122 adults. The EMAS was found to have adequate test-retest (r = .71) and internal consistency (α = .88) reliability; significant positive correlations between the EMAS and the subscales of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale and the Sources of Meaning Profile and negative zero-order correlations were found with short form versions of the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales. Step-wise multiple regression analysis results showed the Sources of Meaning Profile, Boredom Proneness Scale, and Competence subscale of the Basic Psychological Needs scale best predicted the EMAS. These results lend additional construct validity evidence in support of the EMAS as a brief measure of meaningful activity participation.
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    Reliability and structural validity of an assessment of occupational value
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011-09) Eakman, Aaron M., author; Eklund, Mona, author; Informa Healthcare, publisher
    This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the American English (Am. Eng.) version of the Occupational Value Assessment with predefined items (OVal-pd). The OVal-pd is a 26-item Likert-like questionnaire designed to assess the construct of occupational value as framed within the Value and Meaning in Occupations model (ValMO). Following a translation from the Swedish OVal-pd, 277 randomly selected graduate and undergraduate students from a public university in the northwestern United Stated completed the Am. Eng. OVal-pd. Test-retest and internal consistency reliability coefficients were very good utilizing an improved 22-item version of the OVal-pd. The structural validity of the 22-item Am. Eng. OVap-pd was partly confirmed through exploratory factor analysis. The scale was found to assess a one-dimensional value construct supporting the ValMO model, consisting of components clearly reflective of self-reward and concrete value. Exploratory factor analysis results were equivocal with regard to the symbolic dimension of the ValMO model as assessed by the OVal-pd. Discussion suggests the refinement of both the OVal-pd and ValMO model in the light of present and related empirical findings.
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    Measurement characteristics of the engagement in meaningful activities survey in an age-diverse sample
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Eakman, Aaron M., author; American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc., publisher
    OBJECTIVE. This study evaluated the measurement characteristics of the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS) in an age-diverse sample. METHOD. The sample included 154 older adults and 122 college students (age range = 18-100 yr). A Rasch-Andrich rating scale model was used to evaluate the EMAS. Analyses addressed rating scale design, person and item fit, item hierarchy, model unidimensionality, and differential item functioning. RESULTS. Category functioning was improved by reducing the EMAS item responses to four categories. Adequate person response validity was established, and all but one EMAS item demonstrated an ideal fit to the Rasch measurement model. After establishing the item hierarchy, I found the EMAS to be a unidimensional measure. Differential item functioning was not detected using Bonferroni-adjusted statistical criteria. CONCLUSION. The results confirm the potential to validly measure subjective qualities of meaningful activity participation. The EMAS can be used to evaluate processes and outcomes central to occupational therapy practice and to aid in the design of therapeutic occupations.
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    Factors affecting the number of students engaged in mental health fieldwork education
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Thompson, Kelly, author; Eakman, Aaron M., author; Owens, Lisa, author; Routledge, publisher
    Fieldwork is essential for training future mental health practitioners. In this study, the authors identified factors predicting the number of students engaged in mental health fieldwork education. Proactive efforts (e.g., setting up structured fieldwork programs), such as offering both Level I and Level II fieldwork experiences, and perceiving no challenge to accepting Level II fieldwork students, predicted greater numbers of students participating in fieldwork. Clinicians who had set up structured fieldwork programs were more likely to have guest lectured in an occupational therapy education program and met with interested students. This is the first study to identify factors that predict participation in mental health fieldwork.
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    A prospective longitudinal study testing relationships between meaningful activities, basic psychological needs fulfillment, and meaning in life
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Eakman, Aaron M., author; American Occupational Therapy Foundation, publisher
    The current study used a prospective longitudinal design to determine whether change in meaningful activity over an 11-month period could help explain change in meaning in life in a sample of 174 undergraduate and graduate students. The Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey, Basic Psychological Needs Scales (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness), and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire were used as indicators of the constructs of meaningful activity, basic psychological needs fulfillment, and meaning and purpose in life. The findings were in support of the study hypotheses and indicated that change in meaningful activity explained both change in basic psychological needs fulfillment (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness) and change in meaning in life. Further, this study reports findings consistent with results from cross-sectional studies in support of the hypothesis that change in meaningful activity may influence change in meaning in life through two pathways: a direct path of influence from meaningful activity to meaning in life and an indirect path through change in basic psychological needs fulfillment. The current study contributes to a growing literature implicating subjective evaluations of day-to-day action (or meaningful activity) as a fruitful means for exploring relationships between occupation and well-being.