Occupational Meaning Salience Scale (ECOS): Development and Psychometric Validation in Older Adults

Introduction Engagement in meaningful occupations is a contributor to well-being, particularly in older adults. Beyond engagement itself, awareness of the meaning attributed to daily occupations— occupational meaning salience —may represent an important psychological resource that contributes to well-being. Objective To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Occupational Meaning Salience Scale (ECOS), a self-report measure designed to assess occupational meaning salience among older adults. Method Items were refined through a Delphi study to ensure content validity, and a pretesting study confirmed clarity. Psychometric properties were examined in 133 adults aged 60 to 80. Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was evaluated through correlations with engagement in meaningful activities, quality of life, and metacognitive performance. A mediation analysis explored whether occupational meaning salience was associated with the relationship between meaningful activity engagement and quality of life. Result The Delphi and pretesting process resulted in a 29-item scale with satisfactory content validity and comprehensibility. ECOS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.915) and moderate positive correlations with engagement in meaningful activities ( r s = 0.503), quality of life ( r s = 0.404), and metacognitive abilities ( r s = 0.453), supporting construct validity. Additionally, an indirect association was observed between engagement in meaningful activities and quality of life through ECOS. Conclusion ECOS provides preliminary evidence of reliability and validity as a measure of awareness of meaning in daily occupations among older adults. Findings suggest that occupational meaning salience may represent a psychological process linking meaningful activity engagement and well-being.