The Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment: screening for social-emotional problems and delays in competence.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the reliability and validity of the 42-item Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), a screener for social-emotional/behavioral problems and delays in competence.


METHODS
Parents in a representative healthy birth cohort of 1,237 infants aged 12 to 36 months completed the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA)/BITSEA, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)/1.5-5, the MacArthur Communication Developmental Inventory vocabulary checklist, and worry questions. In a subsample, independent evaluators rated infant-toddler behavior.


RESULTS
Test-retest reliability was excellent and interrater agreement (mother/father and parent/child-care provider) was good. Supporting validity, BITSEA problems correlated with concurrent evaluator problem ratings and CBCL/1.5-5 scores and also predicted CBCL/1.5-5 and ITSEA problem scores one year later. BITSEA measures of competence correlated with concurrent observed competence and predicted later ITSEA competence measures. Supporting discriminant validity, only 23% of high BITSEA problem scorers had delayed vocabulary. Moreover, the combined BITSEA problem/competence cutpoints identified 85% of subclinical/clinical CBCL/1.5-5 scores, while maintaining acceptable specificity (75%).


CONCLUSIONS
Findings support the BITSEA as a screener for social-emotional/behavioral problems and delays in social-emotional competence.
Briggs-Gowan
Margaret J
MJ
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, PO Box 208034, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. margaret.briggs-gowan@yale.edu
Carter
Alice S
AS
Irwin
Julia R
JR
Wachtel
Karen
K
Cicchetti
Domenic V
DV
D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003237:Connecticut; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity