Table of Contents
Abstract
The Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs), developed by Hebert & Ricker in 2023, is a comprehensive 125-item instrument designed to evaluate the valence of emotions experienced during the course of daily occupations. The creation of this scale was driven by a need to quantify emotional affect within daily life and to illustrate the broad spectrum of emotions tied to occupational performance. The development process began with an initial list of seven emotional descriptors, which was informed by research in flow theory and mindfulness for positive affect, as well as studies on psychological distress for negative affect. Concurrently, an initial collection of 35 occupational items was formulated by reviewing established measures of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), tools for assessing occupational engagement, and the Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scales. Following a review and modification by an expert panel of occupational therapists, the measure was administered to a sample of undergraduate students in the United States. Subsequent exploratory principal components and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor structure that retained five emotion items and a three-factor structure that retained 25 occupational items. The internal consistency of the scale was also established and reported.
Keywords
Activities of Daily Living; Complex Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; Daily Occupations; Emotional Valence; Negative Affect; Occupational Therapy; Personal Care; Positive Affect; Simple Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
Authors
Hebert, Karen R.; Ricker, Timothy J.
Purpose
The primary objective of this instrument is to systematically assess the frequency with which specific emotional experiences arise during the performance of various activities of daily living.
Construct
Activities of Daily Living; Emotional Experiences
Validity
No data is Available
Reliability
The internal consistency for the emotional subscales was determined to be good, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from .81 to .82. For the occupational categories, the internal consistency, measured by coefficient alpha, was also found to be good, with values spanning from a low of .635 for the positive affect ratings associated with complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) to a high of .723 for the positive affect ratings of personal care items.
Factor Analysis
An Exploratory Factor Analysis conducted on the seven emotional rating scales identified two primary factors that accounted for 68% of the total variance. The items for “relaxation” and “boredom” did not load distinctly onto either factor and were subsequently removed. Regarding the occupational items, three factors were identified that explained 40% of the total variance for the negative emotions subscale. Similarly, for the positive emotions subscale, three factors were identified, explaining 35% of the total variance.
A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated an acceptable model fit for the two-factor emotional subscales, with χ2 (4, N= 328)= 21, p = .01 (CFI= 0.972, RMSEA= 0.072). The model fit for the three occupational factors within the positive emotion subscale was also deemed acceptable, with χ2 (4, N= 328) = 538, p = .03 (CFI= 0.953, RMSEA= 0.055). Furthermore, the model fit for the three occupational factors within the negative emotion subscale was found to be acceptable as well, with χ2 (4, N = 328)= 591, p = .02 (CFI= 0.956, RMSEA= 0.06).
The analysis yielded the following factors and subscales:
Emotional Factors: Positive emotion; Negative emotion.
Occupational Factors: Personal care; Complex instrumental activities of daily living (IADL); Simple instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).
Instrument
Test Type
Original
Format
This is a paper-based inventory consisting of 125 items. It is structured with 25 distinct occupational items, each rated against 5 emotional items. For each occupation listed, respondents first indicate whether they perform the activity at least once per week by circling either “Yes” or “No”. If they answer “Yes,” they then proceed to rate how frequently they have experienced each of the listed emotions while performing that activity over the last month. This rating is captured on a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 corresponds to “almost never” and 5 corresponds to “almost always”.
Language Available
English
Population Group
Human; Male; Female
Age Group
Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs); Thirties (30-39 yrs); Middle Age (40-64 yrs)
Population Details
The measure was administered to undergraduate students located in the United States.
Test Methodology
Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Factor Analysis; Confirmatory Factor Analysis; Exploratory Factor Analysis; Principal Component Analysis
Keywords
Activities of Daily Living, Affective Valence, Complex Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Daily Occupations, Emotional Responses, Emotional Valence, Functional Status, Negative Affect, Negative Emotions, Occupational Therapy, Personal Care, Positive Affect, Positive Emotions, Simple Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Workplace Health and Well Being Measures
Authors including Author ocrid Identifier and Affiliation Email addresses Correspondence Address
Hebert, Karen R.
Author ocrid Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3233-7671
Affiliation: University of South Dakota
Email addresses: [email protected]
Correspondence Address: University of South Dakota, Department of Occupational Therapy, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, South Dakota, United States, 57069, [email protected]
Ricker, Timothy J.
Author ocrid Identifier: No data is Available
Affiliation: University of South Dakota
Email addresses: No data is Available
Correspondence Address: No data is Available
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
Permissions: To obtain permission to use the scale, interested parties should contact the corresponding author.
Fee: No
Commercial: No
Test Year: 2023
reference’s
Hebert, K. R., & Ricker, T. J. (2023). Reliability of the emotional experiences in activities of Daily Living Scale. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 43(2), 271–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492221085288
Items of the Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale
No data is Available
Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/emotional-experiences-in-activities-of-daily-living-scale-eeadls/
Mohammed looti. "Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 6 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/emotional-experiences-in-activities-of-daily-living-scale-eeadls/.
Mohammed looti. "Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/emotional-experiences-in-activities-of-daily-living-scale-eeadls/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/emotional-experiences-in-activities-of-daily-living-scale-eeadls/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Emotional Experiences in Activities of Daily Living Scale (EEADLs). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.
