Confirmatory analysis and normative tables for the Brazilian Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social–Emotional

Abstract

BackgroundIn Brazil, large‐scale governmental programmes have been implemented to evaluate the development of all children who are enrolled in public daycare centres and preschools using the Brazilian Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social–Emotional (ASQ:SE) as a screening tool. However, in the Brazilian context, there is a lack of studies that have investigated the clinical utility of the ASQ:SE, and only a few studies have partially investigated the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version of this scale.ObjectivesThe present study had two aims: (a) to develop reference norms for the ASQ:SE to help professionals screen child development and because the psychometric properties of the ASQ:SE have only been partially examined, (b) to confirm its factorial structure within a multidimensional item response theory framework.MethodsThe sample size was 54,570 children (53% males, 1–5 years old) who were enrolled in Brazilian public daycare centres and preschools and assessed in 2011. The results allowed the development of reference norms for all age intervals by considering raw scores at the 95th percentile as “monitoring zone” and scores at the 99th percentile as “refer child for further evaluation.” Samejima's graded response model was employed, and its fit was checked by the root mean squared error of approximation.ResultsThe results were ≤0.08, indicating sufficient fit for the two‐factor structure. The raw results were 70 and 99.75 (12 months), 75 and 100 (18 months), 70 and 100 (24 months), 85 and 120 (30 months), 90 and 130 (36 months), 95 and 135 (48 months), and 110 and 150 (60 months) for monitoring zone and to refer the child for further evaluation.DiscussionEarly identification is the initial stage in this early identification process, thus allowing for referral or intervention. This study may help identify children with developmental delays.

What are the effects of supporting early parenting by newborn behavioral observations (NBO)? A cluster randomised trial

“…The Ages and Stages Questionnaire: social-emotional (ASQ:SE) by Squires et al (1997) [35] consists of questionnaires with 16, 23 and 27 items measuring the infant's socio-emotional behaviour by self-regulation, compliance, adaptive functioning, autonomy, affect, social communication and parent-child interaction. The ASQ:SE has been validated in several countries and shown a moderate to good sensitivity (71-85%) and an excellent specificity of (90-98%) [36][37][38]. Each item is rated on a three-point scale, and the ASQ:SE score is calculated ranging from 0 to 15; low scores are favourable.…”

An Exploratory Analysis of the Internal Structure of Test Through a Multimethods Exploratory Approach of the ASQ:SE in Brazil

“…First, the solution obtained from PCA and FA methods completely agreed in terms of placing the item in its factor with the greater loading, with results reproducing some previously published evidence. 15,38 From the statistical angle, both methods analyze the internal structure of a psychological test via multivariate analysis and some literature further considers that FA is a generalization of PCA. 39 The overlapping findings that were produced by these two approaches have mathematical foundations in the way the decomposition of variance is performed.…”

“…19 Previous cross-country studies that have used EFA and confirmatory factor analysis, as well as item response theory have concluded that the variability of ASQ:SE observed variables can be adequately explained in two dimensions namely a social and an emotional one. 15,20,21 The ASQ: SE has been widely recognized as a useful screening tool for practitioners, clinicians, and families to identify children who may be facing a challenging environment or may be at risk of developmental delays. 19 In this study, the ASQ:SE 60-month-old children were selected for the sample, as social and emotional skills are most easily discriminable in the age of 5, as pointed out by the specific literature.…”

“…5,13,14 We, thus, explore the above scenario in this study through a data set composed of a large number of children assessed by the Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ: SE). 15 The current goal is to present and discuss several alternative solutions to the internal structure of the ASQ: SE. The exploratory methods used to check ASQ:SE dimensionality include: exploratory factor analysis (EFA), principal component analysis (PCA), and exploratory graph analysis (EGA).…”

Aspectos psicométricos do Inventário Beck de Depressão-II e do Beck Atenção Primária em usuários do Facebook

“…Para verificação da adequação do modelo aos dados, utilizou-se como Goodness of Fit os ajustes obtidos pela estatística M2 (p ≥ 0,05) e pela Raiz Quadrada Média dos Quadrados dos Erros de Aproximação (RMSEA) ou a Raiz Padronizada da Média Quadrática Residual (SRMSR) (valor ≤ 0,08). Esses indicadores têm se mostrado importantes na verificação dos modelos da Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI) 29 . Complementarmente, os resultados ≥ 0,9 do Índice de Ajustamento Comparativo (CFI) e do Índice de Tucker-Lewis (TLI) também foram utilizados como critérios de evidência 28 .…”