Validating the language domain subtest in a developmental assessment scale for preschool children

• Published in: Research in developmental disabilities Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 1633 - 1641
• Main Authors: Wong, Anita M.-Y., Leung, Cynthia, Siu, Elaine K.-L., Lam, Catherine C.-C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Asian Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Assessment; Biological and medical sciences; Cantonese Chinese; Child; Child Development; Child Language; Child, Preschool; Children; Children with special needs; China (Guangzhou); Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; Developmental Disabilities - psychology; Disability Evaluation; Female; Hong Kong; Humans; Language; Language Development Disorders - diagnosis; Language Development Disorders - psychology; Language Impairments; Language Tests - standards; Male; Measurement; Measures (Individuals); Medical sciences; Predictive Validity; Preschool Children; Program Effectiveness; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometric properties; Psychometrics; Psychometrics - methods; Psychometrics - standards; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reproducibility of Results; Schools; Sino Tibetan Languages; Statistical Analysis; Techniques and methods; Test Construction; Test Reliability; Test validation; Test Validity; Test-Retest reliability; Toddlers; Validation; China (Guangzhou); Hong Kong; Test validation; Cantonese Chinese; Language; Children with special needs; Human; Preschool age; Abbreviated form; Evaluation scale; Psychometrics; Developmental disorder; Test reliability; Rasch model; Intertrial interval; Construct validity; Convergent validity; Chinese; Child; Predictive validity; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0891-4222; 1873-3379
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.03.002

► A 104-item language subtest developed for Chinese speaking children was validated. ► The original and the shortened 66-item demonstrated adequate measurement properties. ► The 66-item version showed strong test–retest reliability, and adequate convergent and criterion validity. This study reports on the validation of the language domain subtest of a developmental assessment scale for Cantonese Chinese preschool children. Three hundred and seventy eight multi-stage randomly selected children between 3;4 and 6;3 years of age were tested on the 104-item subtest. Fifty-four of these children, spreading across three age groups, demonstrated developmental problems. Results from the Rasch analyses suggested that the original and the shortened 66-item version demonstrated adequate measurement properties, including targeting and uni-dimensionality. Statistical analyses of the shortened version suggested that the subtest demonstrated strong test–retest reliability, and adequate convergent and criterion validity. This study contributes to good practice in the development of standardized normative tests, particularly those for investigations of language problems in Chinese children given that reports on existing tests’ psychometric properties were often incomplete.