| Abstract
|
:
|
The Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE), a parent-completed screening instrument, was translated and studied for use in Malaysia to identify young children for social-emotional problems. Psychometric properties such as content validity, internal consistency, determination of cutoff points, concurrent validity and differential item functioning analysis (DIF) of the 6-, 12-, and 18-month Malay-adapted ASQ:SE were investigated. A total of 608 Malaysian parents completed the Malay-adapted ASQ:SE, the Family Information Survey and the Parent Satisfaction Survey. Nurses who administered the ASQ:SE scored the children on the Children Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), which was the concurrent measure. The impact of training on nurses who administered the questionnaire was examined. The nurses also completed the Nurse Satisfaction Survey and Nurse Pre-Post Training Survey. A panel of experts, parents and nurses in this study agreed that the Malay-adapted ASQ: SE was culturally appropriate for use in Malaysia. Parents found the ASQ:SE easy to understand and use. Nurses also found the ASQ:SE easy to implement and effective for screening young children for social-emotional problems. Internal consistency (i.e., coefficient alpha) results for the 6-, 12-, and 18-month Malay-adapted ASQ:SE were .61, .63, and .72 respectively. The concurrent validity with the CGAS was 93% for the 6month questionnaire, 96% for the 12-month questionnaire, and 85% for the 18-month questionnaire. Sensitivity, comparing classifications on the CGAS and ASQ:SE for the selected intervals, was 100%, 50%, and 57% respectively. Specificity was 93%, 96%, and 86% respectively. Over-referral rates for the 6-, 12-, and 18-month Malay-adapted ASQSE were 7%, 4%, and 14% respectively; under-referral rates were 0%, 1%, and 2% respectively. A comparison between the Malaysia sample data and the U.S. normative sample found that the Malaysian sample had higher means, medians, interquartile ranges, and cutoff points. DIF analyses found some item bias in the three questionnaires. Results suggested that training had a positive impact on nurses' knowledge and attitude. Future psychometric studies with more diverse populations, focusing on parents' cultural contexts, are recommended for the Malay-adapted ASQ:SE.
|