How does early developmental assessment predict academic and attentional–behavioural skills at group and individual levels?

Valtonen, Riitta; Ahonen, Timo; Tolvanen, Asko; Lyytinen, Paula

doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03290.x

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Of the 13 included studies, eight utilised data from population based birth cohort studies [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], 4 studies were population based cohort studies designed to study a developmental assessment tool [25][26][27][28] and 1 study recruited participants from a developmental cohort study [29]. It was of note that no studies were identified which were based on developmental assessments conducted as part of established child health programmes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The predictive value of universal preschool developmental assessment in identifying children with later educational difficulties: A systematic review

et al. 2021

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Background Developmental delay affects substantial proportions of children. It can generally be identified in the pre-school years and can impact on children’s educational outcomes, which in turn may affect outcomes across the life span. High income countries increasingly assess children for developmental delay in the early years, as part of universal child health programmes, however there is little evidence as to which measures best predict later educational outcomes. This systematic review aims to assess results from the current literature on which measures hold the best predictive value, in order to inform the developmental surveillance aspects of universal child health programmes. Methods Systematic review sources: Medline (2000 –current), Embase (2000 –current), PsycInfo (2000 –current) and ERIC (2000 –current). Additional searching of birth cohort studies was undertaken and experts consulted. Eligibility criteria: Included studies were in English from peer reviewed papers or books looking at developmental assessment of preschool children as part of universal child health surveillance programmes or birth cohort studies, with linked results of later educational success/difficulties. The study populations were limited to general populations of children aged 0–5 years in high income countries. Study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were carried out by two independent authors and any disagreement discussed. PROSPERO registration number CRD42018103111. Results Thirteen studies were identified for inclusion in the review. The studies were highly heterogeneous: age of children at first assessment ranged from 1–5 years, and at follow-up from 4–26 years. Type of initial and follow-up assessment also varied. Results indicated that, with the exception of one study, the most highly predictive initial assessments comprised combined measures of children’s developmental progress, such as a screening tool alongside teacher ratings and developmental histories. Other stand-alone measures also performed adequately, the best of these being the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). Latency between measures, age of child at initial measurement, size of studies and quality of studies all impacted on the strength of results. Conclusions This review was the first to systematically assess the predictive value of preschool developmental assessment at a population level on later educational outcomes. Results demonstrated consistent associations between relatively poor early child development and later educational difficulties. In general, specificity and Negative Predictive Value are high, suggesting that young children who perform well in developmental assessment are unlikely to go on to develop educational difficulties, however the sensitivity and Positive Predictive Values were generally low, indicating that these assessments would not meet the requirements for a screening test. For surveillance purposes, however, findings suggested that combined measures provided the best results, although these are resource intensive and thus difficult to implement in universal child health programmes. Health service providers may therefore wish to consider using stand-alone measures, which also were shown to provide adequate predictive value, such as the ASQ.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latency between assessment and outcome was similarly varied. The studies could be broadly categorised as those with extractable dichotomous data/reported odds ratios [18,[21][22][23][24][26][27] and studies with other association measures [19][20]28,30]. Three studies provided useful data in both categories [21,25,29].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The predictive value of universal preschool developmental assessment in identifying children with later educational difficulties: A systematic review

et al. 2021

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“…Our findings are partly in accordance with earlier studies among three-to four-year-old preschoolers [22,23], confirming that delayed gross motor competence is shown to already be associated with lower levels of active play during toddlerhood; however, the results are only consistent with the early years teacher's assessments. Children's neurodevelopmental delays are usually continuous or persistent and may predict learning disabilities at school [26,41,42]. Detecting and addressing these delays in their early phase helps health professionals to make decisions about supportive and need-based interventions for children well before school starts [43,44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Lene test takes about 30 min to administer. Public health nurses were trained to administer the Lene test by the Lene test developer [25][26][27]. The data collected with the Lene test were saved to the electronic health records in the public health clinic during routine appointments and collected from there for this study.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Association between the Preference for Active Play and Neurological Development in Toddlers: A Register-Based Study

Pakarinen

Hautala

Hamari

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Active play is regarded as physical activity during early childhood. Physical activity has many benefits for children's physical and psychosocial health and wellbeing, as well as for their cognitive development. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between the preference for active play and neurological development in toddlers. The study was conducted as a register-based study, and the data were collected from a public-health clinic's electronic health records. The register data about active play used in this study were originally assessed by parents at home and by early years teachers at nurseries. Neurological development was assessed by the public health nurses in public child-health clinics. The data eligible for this study were available from 717 toddlers aged 2.5-3.0 years old (mean: 2.5 years ± 2 months). The majority of toddlers (85%) showed a preference for active play, both at home and at the nursery. The prevalence of delays in the neurological development of toddlers varied in different developmental areas (by 1-15%). Delays in gross motor competence, auditory perception, and self-help skills were associated with a lower preference for active play in nursery settings, but none of the neurodevelopmental items were found to be associated with toddlers' preference for active play at home. Nurseries need to encourage children to actively play and support their gross motor competence and self-help skills.

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“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Academic and behavior-related problems constitute a signif icant public health burden and may signal major psychological, economic, and social problems. 7 Attention problems are a major factor behind academic underachievement and should always be assessed in children and adolescents with a history of school failure and dropping out and with externalizing and internalizing psychiatric problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An audit of teenagers who had not succeeded in elementary school: a retrospective case review

Ek¹,

Westerlund²,

Furmark³

et al. 2012

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Objective:The aim was to perform a retrospective case review of pupils who had not succeeded in elementary school, in order to analyze barriers at individual and system levels. Methods: Forty-five pupils, aged 16-20 years, who had not qualified for senior high school, were consecutively assessed within the school health unit to determine their cognitive function, school history, measures taken, previous assessments, and diagnoses given. Results: School health records revealed early problems with learning, reading, mathematics, and attention, but very few students had received an appropriate diagnosis. Our review and assessment when all the data had been compiled demonstrated that the vast majority (96%) of participants had clear developmental problems. Attention problems or full attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder dominated. About half of the students reported extensive truancy. Mean intelligence quotient in the study group was 83.9, about 1 standard deviation below the mean. Fluid intelligence was significantly superior to crystallized intelligence. Conclusion: Screening and identification are needed throughout the school years of children who present symptoms that could interfere with their academic achievement. Intervention needs to be based on skilled assessment, with consideration given to each individual's broad panorama of cognitive deficits and assets, as well as concomitant social adversities that may underlie their school failure. Since there can be a significant negative impact of limited educational opportunities on future socioeconomic outcomes, the question of who is at risk is important both for affected individuals and more generally for public health. Limitations: The study group was small and may not have been fully representative. In spite of limited confidence about generalizing from the results, the findings call for reflection.

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How does early developmental assessment predict academic and attentional–behavioural skills at group and individual levels?

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

The predictive value of universal preschool developmental assessment in identifying children with later educational difficulties: A systematic review

The predictive value of universal preschool developmental assessment in identifying children with later educational difficulties: A systematic review

The Association between the Preference for Active Play and Neurological Development in Toddlers: A Register-Based Study

An audit of teenagers who had not succeeded in elementary school: a retrospective case review

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