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Measuring the Functional Abilities of Children Aged 3-6 Years Old with Observational Methods and Computer Tools
Published on: June 20, 2020
Development and validation of the NIH Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning measures
Courtney K Blackwell1, Cindy J Nowinski1, Amy Wetherby2
1Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, IL, United States.
Insights
The NIH Baby Toolbox offers reliable and valid assessments for infant and toddler social-emotional functioning. These measures fill a critical gap for early childhood development research and clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Behavioral Health
Background:
- Social-emotional functioning is crucial for child development and well-being.
- Existing tools like the NIH Toolbox have limitations for assessing very young children.
- A need exists for sensitive, reliable measures of social-emotional development in infants and toddlers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning measures.
- To identify key subdomains of social-emotional functioning in early childhood.
- To provide validated, normed assessments for infants and toddlers.
Main Methods:
- Expert surveys and literature reviews identified six subdomains: Temperament, Negative Affect, Psychological Well-Being, Self-Regulation, Social Communication, and Social Relationships.
- Existing measures were adapted for tablet administration, including the Behavior Questionnaire and PROMIS® measures.
- The NIH Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning Measures were validated and normed on 2398 US children aged 3-48 months.
Main Results:
- Measures demonstrated moderate to high internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
- Intradomain correlations indicated unique components within each measure, while interdomain associations confirmed distinct subdomains.
- Associations with existing measures supported the construct validity of the Baby Toolbox assessments.
Conclusions:
- The Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning assessments are reliable and valid tools for evaluating early childhood social-emotional development.
- These measures offer a practical and meaningful way for researchers and clinicians to assess infant and toddler social-emotional functioning.
- The Baby Toolbox addresses a significant gap in developmental assessment for very young children.
Abstract:
Social-emotional functioning is foundational for children's healthy development and lifelong well-being. The NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function (NIH Toolbox®) includes social-emotional measures for ages 3 and older, leaving a gap for assessing very young children. The new NIH Baby Toolbox directly addresses this measurement gap through its developmentally sensitive, tablet-based assessments of infant and toddler social-emotional functioning. This paper describes the domain conceptualization, measure selection, and psychometric evaluation of the Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning measures. Through an expert survey and literature review on conceptual frameworks, definitions, and existing measures, six subdomains were identified: Temperament, Negative Affect, Psychological Well-Being, Self-Regulation, Social Communication, and Social Relationships. Specific measures were selected from existing instruments/paradigms and adapted for iPad administration. They include the Infant, Early Childhood, and Childhood Behavior Questionnaire very short forms; the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Early Childhood Parent Report Anger/Irritability, Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms, Positive Affect, Flexibility, Frustration Tolerance, Child-Caregiver Interactions, and Peer Relationships; and the newly developed Social Observation Measure and Caregiver Checklist. Social-Emotional Functioning Measures were validated and normed with 2398 US children (n = 2021 English, n = 377 Spanish) aged 3-48 months using classical and modern test theory. Measures had moderate to high internal and test-retest reliability. Small to moderate intradomain correlations suggest each measure captured related, but unique, components; interdomain associations showed subdomains were distinct. Associations with existing measures supported construct validity. Overall, the Baby Toolbox Social-Emotional Functioning assessments provide reliable, valid, and nationally normed assessments for researchers and clinicians to evaluate infant and toddler social-emotional functioning in a practical and meaningful way.
