Early Childhood Assessment Research Articles

Comparing the Impact of Nature, Blended, and Traditional Preschools on Children's Resilience: Some Nature May Be Better Than None.

This study examined the effect of nature preschools on the development of key protective factors associated with psychological resilience. The Deveraux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers, Second Edition (DECA-P2), was used to assess the growth in the protective factors of initiative, self-regulation, and attachment in 87 children who attended nature, blended, and traditional preschool classes within the same school district. Study results suggest that nature preschool participation was important in the context of initiative. Blended classes, where some nature-based practices were incorporated into traditional preschool classes, were sufficient in the sense of being more impactful than traditional classes on self-regulation, attachment, and the total protective factors overall. Implications are discussed within the context of the limitations of the study.

68.1 ASSESSMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS

Disruptive behavior plays a central role in developmental sequences of psychopathology. It is antecedent to up to 60% of common mental disorders across the life span, often emerges in early childhood, and is the most prevalent disorder of the preschool period with estimates between 9% and 15%. This presentation suggests use of a multidimensional, multisession, developmental framework for early childhood assessment of disruptive behavior. It addresses key challenges in distinguishing developmentally normative from atypical behaviors, categorical vs dimensional models of childhood psychopathology, and psychosocial moderators and mediators of disruptive behavior. A summary of practice guidelines on mental health assessment of the young child will be reviewed. It will highlight the intricacies and skill needed to complete a thorough evaluation. Use of stop-and-think questions, vignettes, visuals, real-life cases, and video clips will engage the audience in the presentation. Integrating the body of evidence that links environmental, physiologic, genetic, and relational contributions to individual differences can determine significant self-control problems, suggest underlying cause, and can guide the use of targeted interventions. An understanding of this information provides practical strategies for successful assessments in most mental health outpatient settings. Problematic levels of disruptive behavior, especially when accompanied by functional impairment and distress of the child and/or primary caregiver, should be identified early using a systematic developmentally informed mental health examination including standardized measures, collateral resources, and multiple sessions to improve outcome trajectories.

Teacher-child relationships, self-concept, resilience, and social withdrawal among Chinese left-behind children: A moderated mediation model

This study aims to examine the mediating and moderating roles of self-concept and resilience in the relationship between teacher-child relationships and social withdrawal with a sample of 380 Chinese left-behind children in a rural region in Guangdong Province, China. They were measured by using Children's Social Behavioral Scale-Teacher Form, Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschool (DECA-P2), Children’s Self-Concept Scale, and Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). The results indicated that: (1) Teacher-child relationships, resilience and self-concept are all negatively correlated to social withdrawal; (2) resilience plays a mediating role between the teacher-child relationships and social withdrawal; (3) self-concept moderates the effect of teacher-child relationships on resilience. This study would enhance the early childhood teachers’ understanding of the key factors that affect children’s social behaviours, and thus implement appropriate strategies for supporting left-behind children. It confirms the significant role of teachers in left-behind children’s development, which has implications for policymakers to prioritize teachers’ quality and training in rural preschools.

The Role of Guidance Teachers in Optimizing Standards of Child Development Achievement Level in PAUD

This study explores the role of a teacher in optimizing achievement levels and providing guidance to children. The standards to be achieved are Standards of Early Childhood Development Achievement Level (STPPA), Content Standards, Process Standards, Assessment Standards, Educators and Education Personnel Standards, Infrastructure Standards, Management Standards, and Financing Standards. This research uses qualitative research that is descriptive in nature, namely the data collected is generally in the form of words, pictures, the data in question includes interview transcripts, field data notes and other notes. As for the results of his research that overall it has not been maximal in carrying out its role as a teacher in guiding students to achieve growth and development in accordance with the stage of development which includes all aspects of development as contained in the Standards for Child Development Achievement Level (STPPA). The cause of these problems is due to the lack of support in the form of. education and training (diklat-diklat) that are relevant in supporting his knowledge about educating early childhood. In addition, there is still a lack of training activities for teachers in the development of Early Childhood Education (PAUD) so that it continues to be better. Likewise, in establishing cooperation between schools and parents, it is still rare. The implementation of the Child Development Achievement Level Standards (STPPA) in PAUD Tunas Harapan, Patumbak sub-district, Deli Serdang district has not been carried out properly. Learning activities are carried out not using all aspects of development in the Child Development Achievement Level Standards as a reference in achieving children's development. Learning programs tend to be aimed at providing children's cognitive abilities

Changes in walking ability, intellectual disability, and epilepsy in adults with cerebral palsy over 50 years: a population-based follow-up study.

To determine if walking ability and presence of intellectual disability and epilepsy change from childhood to 50years of age in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), and if such changes are related to age, sex, or CP subtype. This was a population-based follow-up study of 142 adults born from 1959 to 1978 (82 males, 60 females; mean age 48y 4mo, range 37-58y; 44% unilateral, 35% bilateral, 17% dyskinetic, and 4% ataxic CP) listed in the CP register of western Sweden. We compared childhood data with a follow-up assessment in 2016. At follow-up, walking ability had changed significantly (p<0.001). The proportion of participants walking without aids had decreased from 71% to 62%, and wheelchair ambulation increased from 18% to 25%. Walking ability was related to subtype (p=0.001), but not to age, sex, pain, fatigue, or body mass index. The proportion classified as having intellectual disability had increased from 16% to 22% (p=0.039) and the proportion with epilepsy from 9% to 18% (p=0.015). Of those with childhood epilepsy, 46% were seizure-free without medication. Walking ability and the presence of intellectual disability and epilepsy had changed significantly since childhood. Life-long access to specialized health care is warranted for re-evaluation of impairments, treatment, and assistance. What this paper adds Changes in impairments in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) over time are related to CP subtype. After 50years, walking ability in CP may have deteriorated or improved. Intellectual disability in CP may not always be detected in early childhood assessments. Epilepsy in CP may develop after childhood or may be outgrown.

Early screening for protective and risk factors—Polish adaptation of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment

AbstractThere is a lack of Polish‐language assessment instruments measuring resilience in preschool children. One of the most comprehensive instruments is the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA): a parent‐ or teacher‐report instrument that measures children's protective and risk factors. It is used to guide resilience training, and to screen for behavioral problems. We validated the Polish adaptation of DECA among parents and teachers of 526 preschool children aged 2–5 years. The DECA scale showed very good internal reliability with Cronbach's ɑs in the .76–.94 range and decent criterion validity, in terms of correlations with the the Emotionality Activity and Sociability Scale for Children, Locus of Control Scale in Preschoolers and Social Development Scales. A confirmatory factor analysis of the three‐factor model with weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimation yielded satisfactory fit. Results thus indicate that the Polish version of the DECA scale may be used to assess resilience in children.

Improving Children’s Emotional Health through Installing Biowalls in Classrooms

Background and objective: The physical environment where children spend most of their time is closely associated with their emotional development. To improve the emotional health of children, the introduction of natural elements in the indoor space has been suggested, the benefits of which have been shown in preliminary studies. This study aims to examine the effects that a biowall - a wall installation - in a classroom has on the emotional health of children in kindergarten.Methods: A total of four biowalls were separately installed in four kindergarten classrooms at a school in Seoul, South Korea, and the 60 children in these classrooms participated in the study. We assessed the children’s emotional intelligence (via an Emotional Intelligence Rating Scale), resilience (via the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment), and eco-friendly attitudes (via the Children’s Attitudes Toward Scale) before the installation of the biowalls and then again 3 months later.Results: The children’s emotional intelligence, resilience, and eco-friendly attitudes had been significantly improved after the installation of the biowalls (p = .01). The sub-categories of the children’s emotional intelligence and resilience were also significantly improved (p < .001).Conclusion: This study demonstrates the potential of biowalls—as an indoor environmental factor—in promoting the healthy emotional development of children. By bringing natural elements into indoor classroom settings, biowalls appear to increase children’s direct/indirect contact with nature. To extrapolate the results of the study to the general population, future studies should be conducted with broader age groups.Key words: Biophilic design, classroom environment, emotional intelligence, nature exposure, wall-greening

Neurodevelopmental assessment at one year of age predicts neuropsychological performance at six years in a cohort of West African Children

ABSTRACT Rural children from Benin, west Africa were evaluated with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) at one year of age and then at six years with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II), the visual computerized Tests of Variables of Attention (TOVA), and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test (BOT-2) of motor proficiency (N = 568). Although both the MSEL and KABC-II were available to the assessors in French, instructions to the mother/child were in local language of Fon. Mothers were evaluated with the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), Caldwell HOME Scale, educational level and literacy, and a Socio-Economic Scale – also in their local language (Fon). After adjusting for maternal factors, MSEL cognitive composite was correlated with KABC-II with moderate effect sizes, but not with TOVA scores. Overall eta-squared effect for the multivariate models were moderately to strongly correlated (.07 to .37). Neurodevelopmental assessments in early childhood adapted cross-culturally are predictive of school-age neuropsychological cognitive ability.

Developing a kindergarten computational thinking assessment using evidence-centered design: the case of algorithmic thinking

ABSTRACT Background and Context: There is a need for early childhood assessments of computational thinking (CT). However, there is not consensus on a guiding framework, definition, or set of proxies in which to measure CT. We are addressing this problem by using Evidence Centered Design (ECD) to develop an assessment of kindergarten-aged children’s CT. Objective: To present a design case on the development of the assessment, specifically the algorithmic thinking (AT) tasks and to share validity evidence that emerged. Method: We focus on the AT sub-component of CT and present the principled assessment design process using ECD. Findings: Our operationalization of CT includes spatial reasoning as a sub-component. Pilot results showed an acceptable internal consistency reliability for the AT items and critical design decisions that contributed to validity evidence. Implications: An important contribution of this work is the inclusion of spatial reasoning in our definition of early childhood CT.

Oral health status in 12 and 15-year-old schoolchildren

Introduction. Dental caries is, along with periodontitis, the most frequent oral disease and represents a chronic, progressive, multifactorial process that leads to loss of hard dental tissues. The oral health status analysis and caries risk factors assessment in early childhood and adolescence are necessary for creating strategies in oral health promotion and preventive treatment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate caries prevalence in 12 and 15-year-old schoolchildren in Cukarica, a municipality of Belgrade. Material and method. The retrospective study included 409 schoolchildren of both genders. The oral health status was registered using the Klein-Palmer DMFT system (D - Decayed, M - Missing, F - Filled teeth). The methods of descriptive statistics were performed and p-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results. The younger group included 214 children (52.3%) and the older group 195 (47.7%). Individual caries rate was higher in 15-year-old children (81.02%) comparing to 12-year-old (57%). The mean value of decayed teeth for all participants was 2.43 and of total DMFT was 8.99%. Conclusions. Oral health promotion programs gave positive results. Moreover, it is important to implement them in the underdeveloped regions of Serbia with an improvement of the oral health literacy of parents and raising awareness of oral diseases.

A data-guided approach to supporting students' social-emotional development in pre-k.

The development of social-emotional competencies in early childhood is essential for long-term health and wellbeing, and these skills are particularly critical for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to set the foundation for success in school and in life. The present study examined the effects of an intervention to support prekindergarten (pre-k) teachers' ability to address the specific social-emotional needs of their students. Teachers in a publicly funded pre-k program completed the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA; LeBuffe & Naglieri, 1999; LeBuffe & Shapiro, 2004) to measure social-emotional functioning. "Intervention" teachers received summaries of their students' social-emotional strengths and needs based on the DECA and packets providing teaching strategies they could use to target the social-emotional domains assessed by the DECA. Teachers were encouraged to work with their coaches to interpret their classroom summaries and implement strategies to address their students' needs. Multilevel modeling revealed that students whose teachers received social-emotional feedback (classroom summaries and strategy packets) showed significantly greater social-emotional gains (across multiple domains) over the school year compared to students whose teachers did not receive feedback. Our findings suggest that having teachers complete social-emotional assessments of their students at the beginning of the school year and providing teachers with data-based feedback may build teachers' capacity to promote social-emotional development for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We discuss the potential to build on this data-guided approach to better prepare children to succeed in elementary school and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Principles for Guiding the Selection of Early Childhood Neurodevelopmental Risk and Resilience Measures: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study as an Exemplar.

The vast individual differences in the developmental origins of risk and resilience pathways combined with sophisticated capabilities of big data science increasingly point to the imperative of large, neurodevelopmental consortia to capture population heterogeneity and key variations in developmental trajectories. At the same time, such large-scale population-based designs involving multiple independent sites also must weigh competing demands. For example, the need for efficient, scalable assessment strategies must be balanced with the need for nuanced, developmentally sensitive phenotyping optimized for linkage to neural mechanisms and specification of common and distinct exposure pathways. Standardized epidemiologic batteries designed for this purpose such as PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox provide excellent “off the shelf” assessment tools that are well-validated and enable cross-study comparability. However, these standardized toolkits can also constrain ability to leverage advances in neurodevelopmental measurement over time, at times disproportionately advantaging established measures. In addition, individual consortia often expend exhaustive effort “reinventing the wheel,” which is inefficient and fails to fully maximize potential synergies with other like initiatives. To address these issues, this paper lays forth an early childhood neurodevelopmental assessment strategy, guided by a set of principles synthesizing developmental and pragmatic considerations generated by the Neurodevelopmental Workgroup of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Planning Consortium. These principles emphasize characterization of both risk- and resilience-promoting processes. Specific measurement recommendations to HBCD are provided to illustrate application. However, principles are intended as a guiding framework to transcend any particular initiative as a broad neurodevelopmentally informed, early childhood assessment strategy for large-scale consortia science.

Treating Externalizing Behaviors in Toddlers with ASD Traits Using Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers: A Case Study

Up to 27% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience clinically significant externalizing behavior. Child emotional dysregulation is thought to be one of the main reasons for the manifestation of externalizing behaviors during toddlerhood and has also been associated with insecure and disorganized parent-child attachment relationships. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Toddlers (PCIT-T) is an attachment and behavioral based parent training program targeted at children aged 12 to 24 months with externalizing behavior. This study assessed the effectiveness of PCIT-T in reducing child externalizing behavior as well as improving child emotional regulation and the parent-child attachment relationship in a child with moderate-to-severe ASD traits, low intellectual and adaptive functioning, externalizing behaviors within the clinical range, and a disorganized/insecure mother-child attachment relationship. The intervention occurred over a 12-week period and focused on improving positive parenting skills, parent emotional regulation, and child emotional regulation. Treatment progress was tracked using the Child Behavior Checklist Externalizing Behavior subscale, the Deverux Early Childhood Assessment for Toddlers Attachment/Relationship and Self-Regulation subscales, the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, version 4, and the Strange Situation Procedure. Study results provide preliminary support for the use of PCIT-T in reducing externalizing behavior, improving the parent-child attachment relationship and child emotional regulation. These results indicate that PCIT-T can be beneficial for children with ASD traits, however, further research with a larger sample size is needed to strength these findings.

Children as capable: daily plans in a preschool community

Quality, teaching and assessment in early childhood are often steeped in developmental logic and narrow understandings of teaching and learning. Pedagogy situated in agency and complexity disrupts these taken-for-granted narratives and offers multiple ways of teaching, learning and doing. In this article, the authors offer an example of these pedagogies through daily plans. Daily plans are a process of mark-making, deep listening and engagement with children’s theories of their everyday worlds. Further, they illustrate a reciprocal relationship between child and teacher, co-participating in learning and teaching. Through daily plans, children engage as capable, pedagogical intentions are made visible, and the complexity of teaching and learning is realized.

74.1 EVALUATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS

Disruptive behavior plays a central role in developmental sequences of psychopathology. It is antecedent to roughly 60% of common mental disorders across the lifespan, often emerges in early childhood, and is the most prevalent disorder of the preschool period (9% to 15%). This presentation will equip clinicians to use a multidimensional, multisession, developmental framework for early childhood assessment of disruptive behavior. It addresses key challenges in distinguishing developmentally normative from atypical behaviors, categorical vs dimensional models of childhood psychopathology, and psychosocial moderators and mediators of disruptive behavior.

Policy Recommendations to Promote Integrated Mental Health Care for Children and Youth.

Policy Recommendations to Promote Integrated Mental Health Care for Children and Youth.

Teacher-child interactions in early childhood education and its effects on social and language development

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the relationship between teacher-child interaction quality and children’s social-emotional and language development. Also considered was the level/status of classroom quality in preschool setting. Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS Pre-K), the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA-P2), and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV) were used to collect data from 177 children and 55 teachers in preschool centres of Arba Minch town, Ethiopia. Emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were not significantly correlated with children’s social-emotional and language development. An average level of classroom quality was observed in emotional support domain while classroom organization and instructional support were each rated at the low end. The findings reveal a need for Ethiopian preschool teachers to improve the quality of classroom organization and instructional support in order to promote children’s optimal development. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) from the urological point of view: Assessment of the urinary function in 38 patients

Abstract Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) includes genetic heterogeneous diseases characterized by muscle weakness and atrophy. There are at least two risk factors for SMA patients to develop urinary dysfunctions: 1) the neural degeneration, that influences the pelvic floor and sphincters; 2) the disabilities that predispose to constipation and urinary incontinence and symptoms. Nevertheless, the true incidence of urological disorders remains unknown. The evaluation of urinary symptoms in SMA patients remains scarcely investigated. The aim of our paper is to assess the association between urological disorders and SMA. We worked out a questionnaire to assess the voiding habits of patients with SMA followed at a single Italian Centre. We collected demographic data and information regarding respiratory, orthopedic and gastrointestinal involvement. We excluded patients <5 years of age. 38 patients were evaluated at a mean age of 12 years. Twenty-five patients had Type 2SMA, 13 Type 1 SMA. The respiratory system was involved in 35 patients, PEG was performed in 7 for failure to thrive and 26 suffered from constipation. Fifteen out of 38 (39%) patients wear diapers for urinary incontinence or for convenience. Two patients presented recurrent urinary retention requiring catheterization. No episodes of urinary infections nor urolithiasis were observed. Urinary function parameters were within the normal range. Our results suggest that the urinary function of SMA patients seems good. Nevertheless, a thorough urinary assessment in early childhood is important to identify bad habits in order to reduce the daily discomfort improving the quality of life.

Validity and Reliability Study of the Chinese (Traditional) Version of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Toddlers (DECA-T).

BackgroundThe Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Toddlers (DECA-T), which is one of the few standardized, norm-referenced behavioral rating scales related to young children’s mental health, resilience, and social-emotional development, was developed for toddlers aged between 18 and 36 months.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to test the clinimetric properties of the Chinese (Traditional) version of the DECA-T (C-DECA-T) using a classical test theory analysis and an item response theory analysis.MethodsSeventy-five community-based toddlers aged from 18 to 36 months and 50 clinic-based participants recruited in hospitals in northern Taiwan participated in this study. Social-emotional competence was assessed by the C-DECA-T and children’s behavior problems were rated via the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5 to 5 (CBCL/1.5–5). Homogeneity of the C-DECA-T was assessed by Mokken analysis; sensitivity and specificity were assessed via receiver operating characteristic curve.ResultsThe results showed the C-DECA-T demonstrated good test–retest reliability (r=0.8) and high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.94). Inter-rater reliability between father and mother was fair (ICC = 0.46). Convergent validity of the CBCL/1.5–5 total behavior problems (r=−0.26) demonstrated acceptable psychometric performance. The overall measure of the sampling adequacy of the C-DECA-T assessed by principal component analysis was 0.93. Mokken scale analysis showed the 36-items of the C- DECA-T formed a weak unidimensional scale (Hs=0.35), supporting its construct validity. The area under curve of the C-DECA-T in prediction of social-emotional disturbance was 0.70. The optimal cutoff of the Total Protective Factor score of the C-DECA-T was a T score of 40.1 (T40.1), with a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 68%. Item 2 (“show affection for a familiar adult”) and item 33 (“calm herself/himself”) provide a good amount of information for the assessment of social-emotional strength and needs of a toddler in clinical practice.ConclusionThe C-DECA-T showed good psychometric properties. Our findings of high internal consistency of the three subscales and total score of the C-DECA-T suggest symptom manifestation of social-emotional competence and needs in Taiwanese toddlers is not culturally different from American toddlers. The clinimetric properties of the C-DECA-T examined by a classical test theory analysis approach and an item response theory analysis approach suggest that the C-DECA-T is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring social-emotional strength and needs in the population in Taiwan.

Pragmatic Health Assessment in Early Childhood: The PROMIS® of Developmentally Based Measurement for Pediatric Psychology.

To illustrate the integration of developmental considerations into person-reported outcome (PRO) measurement development for application in early childhood pediatric psychology. Combining the state-of-the-science Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) mixed-methods instrument development approach with considerations from developmental measurement science, we developed 12 PROMIS early childhood (PROMIS EC) parent report measures to evaluate common mental, social, and physical health outcomes for ages 1-5. Through this interdisciplinary effort, we identified key considerations for early childhood PROs that enable reliable and valid assessment within the real-world constraints of clinical care settings. Four key considerations are highlighted as key to this process: (a) Engage diverse content experts to identify meaningful and relevant constructs; (b) Balance salient features for early childhood with lifespan coherence of constructs; (c) Emphasize observable features across the typical/atypical spectrum; and (d) Ensure feasibility and relevancy for clinical and research application. Each consideration is discussed using exemplars from the PROMIS EC measurement development process. PROMIS EC provides an illustration of how well-established PRO measures for youth can be adapted for younger children by incorporating developmental considerations. This process and resulting key considerations provide clinicians and researchers in the field of pediatric psychology with guidance for adapting PROs to early childhood, enabling critical continuity in domains of high salience to pediatric psychologists.