Assessment of infant mental development: toward a broader perspective

The limitations on predictions of intelligence provided by single-point neonatal and infant assessments continue to hamper efforts to certify the clinical outcome of children at risk. Although new methods of clinical assessment show promise of offsetting these limitations, each method alone has not markedly improved predictions. From a developmental perspective, a strategy for assessment should include a broad range of measures combined empirically to form a developmental risk registry. The strategy takes into account evolving changes, as well as levels of competencies of the infant, and considers these within the evolving environmental context of the family.