Parental involvement in the developmental screening of young children: A multiple risk perspective.

Abstract

Recent legislation mandating parental involvement in assessments has emphasized the need for valid and reliable measures to collect and utilize parental input. This legislation conforms with research demonstrating that development is determined by multiple risk factors. Thus, it is essential that a screening process incorporate multiple sources, including parental input, to assist in the identification of children's risk status. Until this time, however, no standardized parent questionnaire has been available to accompany an individually-administered screening assessment in the identification of childhood developmental delays. Using a subsample of children from the national standardization study of the Early Screening Inventory (ESI; Meisels & Wiske, 1983), this dissertation investigated whether parental perceptions of child development, as measured by a standardized parent report measure, could contribute significantly to a developmental screening system designed to identify children who are potentially at risk for developmental delay and subsequent school failure. This study tested the hypothesis that parental input collected from a brief Parent Questionnaire requesting information about the child's developmental status would improve the predictive validity of the Early Screening Inventory, an individually-administered developmental screening instrument. After revising the parent measure so as to improve its validity and reliability, classification analysis indicated that incorporating the Parent Questionnaire increases the predictive validity of the ESI. Specifically, it improved the sensitivity, specificity, and false positive rates of the developmental screening test. These findings were obtained regardless of the child's age, sex, race, family structure, socioeconomic status, or previous school experience. In conjunction with the ESI, the Parent Questionnaire provides a valid and reliable measure for systematically collecting and utilizing parental input regarding the identification of risk factors in early childhood development. Of greatest importance, the Parent Questionnaire contributes to a multifaceted assessment process that fosters a multiple risk perspective of child development.