Caregiver-reported development in term and preterm infants from birth to nine months of age: Psychometrics of the PediaTrac TM social/communication/cognition domain

• Published in: Psychological assessment 2023-07, Vol.35 (7), p.589-601
• Main Authors: Lajiness-O'Neill, Renée, Warschausky, Seth, Huth-Bocks, Alissa, Taylor, H. Gerry, Berglund, Patricia, Staples, Angela D, Lukomski, Angela, Brooks, Judith, Cano, Jennifer, Raghunathan, Trivellore
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Caregivers; Cognition; Communication; Female; Human; Infant Development; Item Response Theory; Male; Premature Birth; Statistical Estimation; Test Reliability
• ISSN: 1040-3590; 1939-134X
• DOI: 10.1037/pas0001235

Term and preterm neonates were assessed at the newborn (NB) period (term, term equivalent) and at 2, 4, 6, and 9 months in a study of the psychometric properties of the Social/Communication/Cognition (SCG) domain of PediaTrac™ v3.0, a novel caregiver-based developmental monitoring instrument. Item response theory (IRT) was used to model item parameters and estimate theta, an index of the latent trait, social/communication/cognition. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to further clarify the dimensionality of the domain. In a cohort of 571 caregiver-infant dyads (331 term, 240 preterm), mean theta values could be reliably estimated at all time periods, with term infants demonstrating significantly more advanced social/communication/cognition abilities at 9 months of age. Item discrimination and item difficulty of the 15, 15, 35, 47, and 57 items at the NB, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 9-month periods, respectively, could be reliably modeled across the range of ability. Total Information for the SCG domain was high and the reliability ranged from 0.97 to 0.99 (NB = .98, 2 month = .97, 4 month = .98, 6 month = .99 and 9 month = .99). EFA revealed second-order factors at each time period, with two factors at the NB period (affect/emotional expression, social responsiveness) accounting for 43% of variance; three factors at 2, 4, and 6 months (affect/emotional expression, social responsiveness imitation/emerging communication), accounting for 43%, 34%, and 34% of the variance, respectively; and four factors at 9 months (imitation/communication, nonverbal/gestural communication, affect expression, and social responsiveness), accounting for 34% of the variance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)