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An evaluation of a short questionnaire for parents about their school-aged children's global maturity level
Jan-Olov Larsson1, Lillemor Nordberg, Ingegärd Fried
1Karolinska Institutet, Department of Women and Child Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, Q3:04, Astrid Lindgren's Children's Hospital, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. jan-olov.larsson@kbh.ki.se
Insights
This study evaluated a parent questionnaire for assessing children's maturity. Immature children showed deficits in general knowledge, appearance, motor skills, peer interactions, and cognitive tests, indicating lower mental age.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Assessing global maturity in school-aged children is crucial for identifying developmental needs.
- Parental reports offer a valuable perspective on children's behavior and maturity.
- Existing tools may not comprehensively capture the multifaceted nature of child maturity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of a parent-reported questionnaire for assessing global maturity in school-aged children.
- To identify characteristics associated with perceived immaturity in children.
- To compare children identified as immature by parents with a typically developing control group.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire was administered to parents to gauge their school-aged children's global maturity.
- Children reported as immature (n=29) were compared to a control group (n=68).
- Cognitive assessments included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT).
Main Results:
- Parental reports linked immaturity to reduced general knowledge, childish appearance, and difficulties with fine motor skills and peer interactions.
- The immature group scored lower on the WISC total score, indicating a lower general intellectual ability.
- Children in the immature group made more commission errors on the CPT, suggesting attention and executive function challenges, indicative of a lower mental age.
Conclusions:
- The parent questionnaire appears to be a useful tool for identifying children with global immaturity.
- Children exhibiting immaturity present with a constellation of cognitive, motor, social, and physical characteristics.
- These findings highlight the importance of a comprehensive approach to assessing child maturity, incorporating parental input and standardized testing.
Abstract:
The aim was to evaluate a questionnaire for parents concerning their school-aged children's global maturity level. Immature children (n = 29) as reported by their parents were compared to a control group (n = 68). Immaturity was linked to a reduced general knowledge, a childish body appearance, problems with the fine motor function and problems with peers. The index group also had on average a lower test result in total score of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and more commission errors in the Continuous Performance Test, both test results indicating a lower mental age.