The Italian MB-CDI 'Words and Gestures' complete and short form: Normative data and validity
Pasquale Rinaldi1, Arianna Bello2, Silvia Stefanini3
1Italian National Research Council, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Via Nomentana 56, Rome 00161, Italy.
Infant Behavior & Development
|December 12, 2025
Summary
The Italian Words and Gestures short form (WG-SF) and complete form (WG-CF) show similar results for assessing early language development in children. These forms can be used interchangeably for children up to 24 months.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Pediatrics
Background:
- The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI) are crucial for tracking early language acquisition.
- Assessing the validity and interchangeability of different forms of the MB-CDI is essential for clinical and research applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare normative data between the Italian Words and Gestures complete form (WG-CF) and short form (WG-SF).
- To evaluate the concurrent validity and concordance between the WG-SF and WG-CF for assessing early communicative and linguistic development in children aged 8-24 months.
Main Methods:
- Normative data were collected from 648 children for WG-CF and 583 children for WG-SF.
- Concordance was analyzed in a subgroup of 66 children.
- Concurrent validity was assessed using Intra-Class-Correlation coefficients.
Main Results:
- Both WG-CF and WG-SF demonstrated very close developmental trends.
- Strong correlations were found between action/gesture production, word comprehension, and word production.
- High concurrent validity (ICC > 0.70) was observed, indicating interchangeability of the forms.
Conclusions:
- The WG-SF and WG-CF can be used interchangeably to describe early communicative and linguistic development in children up to 24 months.
- The WG-SF is a reliable tool, but attention should be paid to its saturation in assessing action-gesture production.
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