I have been struggling for a while to find an easy to use developmental checklist that is in the public domain for babies and infants under 3 years. I am very familiar with more extensive testing measures such as the Bayleys screener etc and with measures such as Ages and Stages and BITSEA. But the former requires specialist skills and the latter are both copyright and not exactly what I want. How does, for example, a family support worker, get a sense of broad developmental milestones of a young infant? Are there measures for health visitors perhaps that have been well validated and normed.
Steve Bagnato at the University of Pittsburgh/children's hospital has used some measures and created some and validated them. I would search on his name, and you could also contact him. He is very open to inquiries.
Zero to Three's website is rich with resources for parents and professionals. Here is a link to the page that has information about development at each phase and what parents/caregivers can do to support healthy development. http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-development/your-babys-development.html
PS - That doesn't answer your question about well validated and normed but their handouts have been created by experts and are easily accessible for someone like a family support worker.
Thanks , have seen these and agree they are wonderful resources.... I wonder why it seems so difficult to find a measure?
Dear Sharon,
The Ages and Stages Questionnaires are parent-reported and quite inexpensive to use. The strong psychometric properties make the ASQ and ASQ-SE widely accepted as screeners in clinical and research settings in Canada and the USA.
I would use the ASQ & ASQ:SE as it is very affordable. Also, it is designed to be completed by parents (rather than requiring a professional) so is quite user-friendly for family support workers. You're unlikely to find something in the public domain (free) that has been validated...
I'd also endore the Zero to Three website for information.
I also wonder about culturally validated tests of well-being for young children. The measures mentioned above are all for the Western context. But what about other countries and/or immigrant families?
The ASQ-3 has been translated and used successfully in many countries, albeit high-income countries. I undertook a cross-cultural adaptation of the ASQ-3 for use in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. There was high face validity and the plan is to now conduct a validation study.
one way is the DQ or developmental quotient for every domain of development. If the DQ was under 75% of age appropriate it is the sign for more investigation.
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