Parent-completed developmental questionnaires: Effectiveness with low and middle income parents

Abstract

The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) are a series of parent-completed questionnaires designed to screen the developmental performance of children from 4 through 48 months of age. This study examined the use of the ASQ with parents from low and middle income backgrounds. Ninety-six parents completed the ASQ on their child from 4 through 30 months. Percent agreement between questionnaires completed by parents in the low income sample ( N= 54) and a professionally-administered standardized assessment ranged from .80–.91 ( X = .85); percent agreement for questionnaires completed by parents in the middle income sample ( N = 42) ranged from .85–.93 ( X = .89). In this longitudinal study, both middle and low income parents appeared able to complete developmental questionnaires with reasonable accuracy.