Agreement Between Parental Report and Clinician Observation of Infant Developmental Skills

Abstract

Understanding the convergence between parent report and clinician observation measures of development is important and became even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic as clinician contact with families was significantly limited. Previous research points to inconsistencies in the degree of agreement between parents and clinicians and very little research has examined these associations for infants within the first year of life. This study investigated the association between parent report and clinician observation measures of social communication and motor skills in 27 young infants who were assessed at 9 and 12 months of age. Results suggest a strong relation between clinician and parent rated motor skills, but weak to moderate associations between clinician and parent rated communication skills. Infant temperament played a significant role in parent ratings of infant communication. Together, these results provide support for data collection via parent report or clinician observation of infant motor skills, but suggest that multiple measures of infant communication may be helpful to obtain high-quality, perhaps more accurate, assessment social-communication skills. Specifically, multiple parent report measures along with an observation of parent-infant interactions will likely provide a more rich and accurate characterization of infant social-communication abilities.

Parent and Service Provider Perspectives of a Digital Developmental Surveillance and Service Navigation Program, Watch Me Grow Electronic (WMG-E), in Rural and Regional Australia: A Qualitative Study

“…Evidence suggests that clinician observation of parent-child interactive practices provides a more accurate characterisation of children's social-communication ability (43). However, remotely delivered screening tools have yielded equivalent psychometric data to those delivered in-person (44).…”

Agreement of Clinician‐Administered and Modified Parent‐Administered House‐Brackmann Scales in Children with Bell's Palsy

“…Parent assessment is already being used either in combination with or as an alternative to clinician assessment in some pediatric conditions 11‐13 . As part of a body of work to improve care for children with FNP, we have developed a modified version of the House‐Brackmann scale for parents (parent House‐Brackmann scale), which removed or exchanged medical terms that were not intuitively understandable (Figure 2).…”

“…Parent assessment is already being used either in combination with or as an alternative to clinician assessment in some pediatric conditions. 11 , 12 , 13 As part of a body of work to improve care for children with FNP, we have developed a modified version of the House‐Brackmann scale for parents (parent House‐Brackmann scale), which removed or exchanged medical terms that were not intuitively understandable (Figure 2 ). 2 , 4 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 We recently completed a placebo‐controlled randomized trial in children with Bell's palsy, indicating that prednisolone is not associated with improved recovery of complete facial function at 1 month.…”

A National School Health Campaign in Lebanon on Children Aged between 3 and 12 Years Old: Concordance Level between Parents’ Reports and Medical Visit Findings about Physical and Mental Health

“…This helps to ensure that caregivers are fully informed about their children's well-being and are actively involved in decisions related to their care. In fact, one report issued from the Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, aimed to examine the association between clinician observation and parent report, not for general overall pediatric health, but for two key developmental domains at 9 and 12 months of age: social communication and motor skills [10]. Addressing overall pediatric health will reveal a better association between clinicians and parents.…”