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Assessing children's development using parents' reports. The Child Development Inventory
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
Insights
The Child Development Inventory (CDI) effectively assesses child development from parent reports, aiding pediatricians. It accurately identifies developmental strengths and challenges in young children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Pediatricians require efficient tools for comprehensive child development assessment.
- Parental reports offer valuable insights into a child's developmental trajectory.
- Early identification of developmental issues is crucial for timely intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the Child Development Inventory (CDI) as a tool for assessing child development.
- To determine the CDI's validity and reliability in a community sample.
- To explore the correlation between CDI results and academic achievement.
Main Methods:
- The Child Development Inventory (CDI) was administered to parents of children aged 15 months to 5 years.
- Norms and validity were established using a community sample of 568 children.
- Correlations were analyzed between CDI scales, age, and academic achievement in kindergarten.
Main Results:
- CDI developmental scales showed a strong correlation with age (r = 0.84).
- CDI results accurately identified children in early childhood/special education.
- CDI scales demonstrated significant correlations with kindergarten academic achievement, particularly reading.
Conclusions:
- The Child Development Inventory (CDI) is a valid and reliable measure for assessing child development.
- Parental completion of the CDI offers an effective approach for busy pediatric practices.
- CDI findings aid pediatricians in identifying developmental strengths and potential problems.
Abstract:
The Child Development Inventory (CDI), completed by parents at home, assesses the development of social, self-help, motor, language, letter and number skills, and presence of symptoms and behavior problems of children between the ages of 15 months and 5 years. The results provide the pediatrician with a profile of the child's development, problems, and strengths, and are an aid to comprehensive assessment. CDI norms and validity were determined for a community sample of 568 children. The CDI developmental scales correlate closely with age (r = 0.84). CDI results identified all the normative group children who were enrolled in early childhood/special education (N = 26) and correlated with academic achievement for children in kindergarten (N = 132). CDI scales correlated with reading achievement in kindergarten as follows: general development 0.69, letters 0.56, language comprehensive 0.42, expressive language 0.36, and self-help 0.35. Thus, the CDI provides a useful measure of children's development and, because of its reliance on parental reports, offers an effective approach to developmental assessment in the busy pediatric practice.