Poster #13 - Development and Validation of a Measure of Perceived Risk for Developmental Delay

• In Event: Poster Session 08

Abstract

Existing measures of parents' knowledge of young child development capture general knowledge of developmental milestones and/or developmentally appropriate parenting. There remains a practical need to understand parents' awareness of the signs of potential developmental delays and their willingness to seek advice and assistance when needed. This research describes the development and validation of an instrument to capture parents’ perceptions of risk and propensity for help-seeking in cases of suspected developmental difficulties. The aims of this research are to understand and meet parents' needs for education and outreach to ensure that children at risk of developmental delay are identified and receive early intervention or support services.
Items for the Perceived Developmental Risk Questionnaire (PDRQ) were initially developed using indicators from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (Squires and Bricker, 2009), the Children’s Learning Institute’s Infant and Toddler Developmental Checklists, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Developmental Milestones Act Early Guidelines. Initial drafts of the instrument were tested in cognitive interviews with 12 parents of children under 5 years of age from diverse social and economic backgrounds. Parents gave feedback on item wording, item comprehension, affective responses to the questionnaire, and suggestions for the response scales. Their feedback was incorporated into a revised version of the instrument.
As of September 2022, the revised instrument is being tested via an online survey with parents of children under age 5. Data are also being collected using existing measures of knowledge of infant development, parenting stress, and trust in child-serving institutions to examine concurrent validity. Parents are being recruited via flyers posted in community locations frequented by parents with young children and on social media. Parents will be asked to complete the surveys in two rounds 2 months apart to assess test-retest reliability.
Data from these surveys will be used to conduct psychometric analyses of item and scale properties to obtain evidence for content and construct validity, concurrent validity, and reliability. This poster will present details of the methods used in development and testing of the questionnaire as well as results of psychometric analyses and subsequent revision of the questionnaire.
The final, validated scale will be used in a large-scale study of parents of young children in a large metropolitan area in Texas to identify needs and barriers to parent access to multiple programs and services available to support parents of young children, including parent knowledge, attitudes, social capital, decision-making processes and trust.

Authors

• Katharine Buek, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler
  Presenting Author

• Dorothy J Mandell, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

• Angela D. Cummings, Baylor College of Medicine

• Bethanie S. Van Horne, Baylor College of Medicine

• Cary Cain, Baylor College of Medicine