Abstract
BackgroundWith the importance of early childhood development more recognized by the international society, low-cost and cross-culturally comparable measures of early childhood development is in great demand, both in China and worldwide. In this study, we aim to test the psychometrics of the Chinese version of The Early Human Capability Index (eHCI), which is designed as a measurement for school readiness in large population.MethodsWe evaluated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, factor structure, criterion-related validity, and discriminant validity of the eHCI in 20,324 preschool children in Shanghai. We also compared eHCI scores with test result of ASQ in 815 children in Yexian and EAP-ECDS in 6947 children in Daming.ResultsThe ICC between parents and teachers were 0.83 and 0.63 for Literacy Numeracy and Overall Development. The confirmatory factor analyses showed good model fit (χ2 = 509,323, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.901; RMSEA = 0.038). The correlations between the scores of eHCI and other ECD metrics ranged between r = − 0.42 and r = 0.53. The scale discriminated between children’s developmental level based on sex, parental education, family income, family assets, and nutrition status.ConclusionsResults from Chinese population suggested that eHCI is valid and reliable for measuring early childhood development in children aged 3–6 years. The eHCI can be applied to map the global distribution of early childhood development for allocating scarce resources to help those in greatest demand. Longitudinal studies are warranted to test its predictive validity for later outcomes.
Highlights
With the importance of early childhood development more recognized by the international society, low-cost and cross-culturally comparable measures of early childhood development is in great demand, both in China and worldwide
Most measures of child development originate from the disciplines of pediatrics or developmental psychology, with focus on screening for developmental disability, which usually accounts for 10–15% of the whole population [8, 9]
When interpreting some of the results presented in this paper it is important to note that for some aspects of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Age & Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional (ASQ):scored 0.025 (SE) higher scores represent children with greater development problems, which is opposite to how the other measures of child development are coded
Summary
With the importance of early childhood development more recognized by the international society, low-cost and cross-culturally comparable measures of early childhood development is in great demand, both in China and worldwide. The 2007 and 2011 Lancet Series on Child Development in Developing Countries spearheaded the review of evidence linking early childhood development with adult health and wellbeing. Tools for assessing early development used in small group trials, such as the Griffith and Bayley Scales of Infant Development, may not be effective in evaluating the impact of interventions implemented in large populations [7]. A high-quality tool for measuring early childhood development is necessary to support the evaluation of early interventions. Such a tool would help to: evaluate children’s comprehensive traits, explore the protective factors that promote development and enhance child development at the population level [12]
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