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A new measure for infant mental health screening: development and initial validation
Janni Ammitzbøll1, Bjørn E Holstein2, Lisbeth Wilms3
1National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Øster Farimagsgade 5a, 2., 1353, Copenhagen K, Denmark. jaam@sdu.dk.
BMC Pediatrics
|December 2, 2016
Summary
A new screening tool effectively identifies infant mental health issues in community settings. Developed for community health nurses, it shows promise for early intervention and prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Child Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Mental health problems in infants pose significant public health challenges.
- Early prevention strategies require feasible and validated screening and intervention measures.
- Community health nurses (CHN) in Denmark have shown potential for infant mental health screening in existing services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a service-based measure for infant mental health screening.
- To identify infant mental health problems using the developed measure.
- To assess the validity and feasibility of the measure in public health settings.
Main Methods:
- A short, comprehensive measure was developed by experts.
- 2973 infants (9-10 months) were screened in 11 municipalities near Copenhagen.
- Face validity, feasibility, and content validity (via Exploratory Factor Analysis) were assessed.
Main Results:
- The measure identified communication/interaction problems (20.7%), eating problems (20.1%), attention problems (15.9%), and emotional regulation issues (14.3%).
- Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed 11 items clustering into five areas: eating, emotions, attention, language/communication, and attachment.
- High face validity and feasibility were demonstrated, with 91% participation.
Conclusions:
- The developed measure shows potential for infant mental health screening.
- Further research is needed to explore construct validity and reliability.
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