ESSENCE-Q: Slavic language versions for developmental screening in young children

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Psychometric Evaluation

Background:

• The Early Symptomatic Syndromes Eliciting Neurodevelopmental Clinical Examinations - Questionnaire (ESSENCE-Q) is a tool for identifying developmental concerns.
• Early identification of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) is crucial for timely intervention.
• The need for culturally and linguistically adapted screening tools in diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate the ESSENCE-Q into six South Slavic languages: Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Serbian, and Slovenian.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the translated ESSENCE-Q versions for screening NDDs in children aged 1-6 years.
• To assess the utility of the ESSENCE-Q as a clinical screening tool in South Slavic-speaking regions.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 251 typically developing children and 200 children diagnosed with NDDs.
• Translation and cultural adaptation of the ESSENCE-Q into target South Slavic languages.
• Psychometric evaluation including internal consistency (Cronbach's α), construct validity, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

Main Results:

• High internal consistency was found across all versions: Cronbach's α coefficients ranged from 0.86 to 0.91.
• Excellent diagnostic accuracy was indicated by area under the curve (AUC) values, with the parent-completed form achieving 0.96 (0.93-0.99).
• Optimal cutoff scores were identified: ≥3 for the parent-completed form and ≥5 for telephone and direct interview forms.

Conclusions:

• The South Slavic language versions of the ESSENCE-Q possess adequate measurement properties for screening NDDs in clinical settings.
• The study provides robust psychometric data supporting the use of the ESSENCE-Q across diverse South Slavic populations.
• The validated ESSENCE-Q facilitates early identification and intervention for children with neurodevelopmental concerns in the region.