Co-Design of a Neurodevelopment Assessment Scale: A Study Protocol.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Neurodevelopmental disorders present heterogeneous symptoms and trajectories, challenging current diagnostic categories.
• Existing screening tools often lack a holistic, transdiagnostic approach.
• There is a need for validated instruments that dimensionally assess symptomatology across the spectrum of neurodevelopmental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To co-design and develop a user-friendly, transdiagnostic Neurodevelopment Assessment Scale (NAS).
• To evaluate the social validity (face validity, utility, user-friendliness, suitability, acceptability) of the NAS.
• To ascertain the psychometric properties, including content and convergent validity, of the NAS.

Main Methods:

• Co-design principles involving individuals with lived experience and service providers.
• Evaluation of social validity through perspectives of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and service providers.
• Psychometric assessment including content and convergent validity analyses.

Main Results:

• Development of the Neurodevelopment Assessment Scale (NAS) through collaborative co-design.
• Positive initial feedback on the NAS's face validity, utility, user-friendliness, suitability, and acceptability.
• Successful ascertainment of content and convergent validity, indicating robust psychometric properties.

Conclusions:

• The NAS is a promising, efficient, transdiagnostic tool for assessing neurodevelopmental disorder symptomatology.
• The scale facilitates a holistic evaluation of dimensional constructs underlying neurodevelopmental presentations.
• The NAS is anticipated to enhance personalized care by enabling tailored interventions based on individual profiles.