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Waldman MR, Raikes A, Hepworth K, Black MM, Cavallera V, Dua T, Janus M, Martin-Herz SP, McCoy DC, Weber AM. Psychometrics of psychosocial behavior items under age 6 years: Evidence from Nebraska, USA. Infant Ment Health J 2024; 45:56-78. [PMID: 38053329 DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Because healthy psychosocial development in the first years of life is critical to lifelong well-being, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations are increasingly interested in monitoring psychosocial behaviors among populations of children. In response, the World Health Organization is developing the Global Scales of Early Development Psychosocial Form (GSED PF) to facilitate population-level psychosocial monitoring. Once validated, the GSED PF will be an open-access, caregiver-reported measure of children's psychosocial behaviors that is appropriate for infants and young children. This study examines the psychometric validity evidence from 45 items under consideration for inclusion in the GSED PF. Using data from N = 836 Nebraskan (USA) children aged 180 days to 71 months, results indicate that scores from 44 of the 45 (98%) items exhibit positive evidence of validity and reliability. A bifactor model with one general factor and five specific factors best fit the data, exhibited strong reliability, and acceptable model fit. Criterion associations with known predictors of children's psychosocial behaviors were in the expected direction. These findings suggest that measurement of children's psychosocial behaviors may be feasible, at least in the United States. Data from more culturally and linguistically diverse settings is needed to assess these items for global monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus R Waldman
- Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA
| | - Abbie Raikes
- Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA
| | - Katelyn Hepworth
- College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, USA
| | - Maureen M Black
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
- RTI International, Research Triangle Park, USA
| | - Vanessa Cavallera
- Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization†, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Tarun Dua
- Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, World Health Organization†, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Magdalena Janus
- Offord Centre for Child Studies, Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Susanne P Martin-Herz
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
| | - Dana C McCoy
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, USA
| | - Ann M Weber
- School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
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Petrowski N, de Castro F, Davis-Becker S, Gladstone M, Lindgren Alves CR, Becher Y, Grisham J, Donald K, van den Heuvel M, Kandawasvika G, Maqbool S, Tofail F, Xin T, Zeinoun P, Cappa C. Establishing performance standards for child development: learnings from the ECDI2030. JOURNAL OF HEALTH, POPULATION, AND NUTRITION 2023; 42:140. [PMID: 38087377 PMCID: PMC10717755 DOI: 10.1186/s41043-023-00483-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Standards of early childhood development (ECD) are needed to determine whether children living in different contexts are developmentally on track. The Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) is a population-level measure intended to be used in household surveys to collect globally comparable data on one of the indicators chosen to monitor progress toward target 4.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals: The proportion of children aged 24-59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being. METHODS To define performance cut-scores for the ECDI2030 we followed a criterion-referenced standard setting exercise using the modified Angoff method. The exercise gauged the expectations from 15 global experts in ECD and was informed by representative population data collected in Mexico and the State of Palestine. The final calibrated age-specific performance cut-scores were applied to these data to estimate the proportion of children developmentally on track, disaggregated by background characteristics, including the child's sex and attendance to early childhood education. RESULTS Through a process of standard setting, we generated robust performance standards for the ECDI2030 by establishing five age-specific cut-scores to identify children as developmentally on track. CONCLUSIONS This paper demonstrated how the standard setting methodology, typically applied to measures in the health and education fields, could be applied to a measure of child development. By creating robust criterion-referenced standards, we have been able to ensure that the cut-scores related to age for the ECDI2030 are based on performance standards set by global experts in the ECD field for defining on and off track development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Petrowski
- UNICEF, Data and Analytics Section, 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY, 10017, USA.
| | - Filipa de Castro
- Formerly with UNICEF, Data and Analytics Section, 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY, 10017, USA
| | - Susan Davis-Becker
- ACS Ventures, 11035 Lavender Hill Drive #160-433, Las Vegas, NV, 89135, USA
| | - Melissa Gladstone
- Department of Women and Children's Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, UK
| | | | - Yvonne Becher
- The Child Development Centre, 4/F Prime Mansion, 183-187 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
| | - Jennifer Grisham
- Early Childhood Laboratory, University of Kentucky, 621 S. Limestone, Lexington, KY, 40506-0657, USA
| | - Kirsten Donald
- Division of Developmental Pediatrics, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Meta van den Heuvel
- Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Gwendoline Kandawasvika
- Primary Health Sciences Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Mt Pleasant, P.O. Box MP167, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Shazia Maqbool
- Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Department, The Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Fahmida Tofail
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh
| | - Tao Xin
- National Assessment Center for Education Quality, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
| | | | - Claudia Cappa
- UNICEF, Data and Analytics Section, 3 UN Plaza, New York, NY, 10017, USA
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Perumal N, Saleh A, Muhihi A, McCoy D, Seiden J, Bakari M, Ndesangia V, Ulenga N, Sudfeld CR, Manji KP. School readiness among children born to women living with HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: a cohort study protocol. BMJ Paediatr Open 2022; 6:10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001572. [PMID: 36645758 PMCID: PMC9628665 DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Children who are born to women living with HIV are at a greater risk of suboptimal neurodevelopment; however, evidence from sub-Saharan Africa is limited and functional developmental outcomes are rarely assessed in this vulnerable population. The School Readiness among HIV-Exposed Children (SRHEC) cohort study aims to assess the school readiness of preschool aged children born to women living with HIV and to identify the biological, environmental and social factors that contribute to school readiness in this population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS The SRHEC cohort is an observational follow-up study of children born to HIV-infected pregnant women who were previously enrolled in a maternal vitamin D supplementation randomised, placebo-controlled trial in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. This parent trial enrolled 2300 pregnant women and followed mothers and infants up to 1-year postpartum. Mother/caregiver and child pairs will be eligible for the SRHEC follow-up study if the child is between 3 and 6.5 years of age at assessment, and the mother/caregiver provides informed consent. The International Development and Early Learning Assessment tool will be used to assess children's school readiness, including their early literacy, early numeracy, motor, socialemotional, and executive function skills. Data on maternal and child health and nutritional status (eg, anthropometry, blood pressure and diet) will be collected using standardised instruments and survey-based questionnaires. Data on maternal/caregiver depression and anxiety, maternal exposure to intimate partner violence, and HIV-related stigma will also be collected. Generalised linear and logistic regressions will be used to assess the relationship between child school readiness and biological, social, environmental factors. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION This study received ethical clearance from the Tanzanian National Institute of Medical Research, the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We will disseminate our results in the form of scientific conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandita Perumal
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Arvin Saleh
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Alfa Muhihi
- Department of Community Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.,Management and Development for Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Dana McCoy
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan Seiden
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mohamed Bakari
- Department of Pediatrics, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Veneranda Ndesangia
- Department of Pediatrics, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Nzovu Ulenga
- Management and Development for Health, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Christopher R Sudfeld
- Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusettes, USA
| | - Karim P Manji
- Department of Pediatrics, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
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Dulal S, Prost A, Karki S, Merom D, Shrestha BP, Bhandari B, Manandhar DS, Osrin D, Costello A, Saville NM. Feeding, caregiving practices, and developmental delay among children under five in lowland Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:1721. [PMID: 36088374 PMCID: PMC9464411 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13776-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Nurturing care, including adequate nutrition, responsive caregiving and early learning, is critical to early childhood development. In Nepal, national surveys highlight inequity in feeding and caregiving practices for young children. Our objective was to describe infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving practices among caregivers of children under five in Dhanusha district, Nepal, and to explore socio-demographic and economic factors associated with these practices. Methods We did a cross-sectional analysis of a subset of data from the MIRA Dhanusha cluster randomised controlled trial, including mother-child dyads (N = 1360), sampled when children were median age 46 days and a follow-up survey of the same mother-child dyads (N = 1352) when children were median age 38 months. We used World Health Organization IYCF indicators and questions from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey-4 tool to obtain information on IYCF and cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving practices. Using multivariable logistic regression models, potential explanatory household, parental and child-level variables were tested to determine their independent associations with IYCF and caregiving indicators. Results The prevalence of feeding indicators varied. IYCF indicators, including ever breastfed (99%), exclusive breastfeeding (24-hour recall) (89%), and vegetable/fruit consumption (69%) were common. Problem areas were early initiation of breastfeeding (16%), colostrum feeding (67%), no pre-lacteal feeding (53%), timely introduction of complementary feeding (56%), minimum dietary diversity (49%) and animal-source food consumption (23%). Amongst caregiving indicators, access to 3+ children’s books (7%), early stimulation and responsive caregiving (11%), and participation in early childhood education (27%) were of particular concern, while 64% had access to 2+ toys and 71% received adequate care. According to the Early Child Development Index score, only 38% of children were developmentally on track. Younger children from poor households, whose mothers were young, had not received antenatal visits and delivered at home were at higher risk of poor IYCF and caregiving practices. Conclusions Suboptimal caregiving practices, inappropriate early breastfeeding practices, delayed introduction of complementary foods, inadequate dietary diversity and low animal-source food consumption are challenges in lowland Nepal. We call for urgent integrated nutrition and caregiving interventions, especially as interventions for child development are lacking in Nepal. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13776-8.
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