Measurement properties and classification accuracy of two spanish parent surveys of language development for preschool-age children.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the concurrent validity and classification accuracy of 2 Spanish parent surveys of language development, the Spanish Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ; Squires, Potter, & Bricker, 1999) and the Pilot Inventario-III (Pilot INV-III; Guiberson, 2008a).


METHODS
Forty-eight Spanish-speaking parents of preschool-age children participated. Twenty-two children had expressive language delays, and 26 had typical language development. The parents completed the Spanish ASQ and the Pilot INV-III at home, and the Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition: Spanish Edition (PLS-4 Spanish; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) was administered to the children at preschool centers.


RESULTS
The Spanish ASQ and Pilot INV-III were significantly correlated with the PLS-4 Spanish, establishing concurrent validity. On both surveys, children with expressive language delays scored significantly lower than children with typical development. The Spanish ASQ demonstrated unacceptably low sensitivity (59%) and good specificity (92%), while the Pilot INV-III demonstrated fair sensitivity (82%) and specificity (81%). Likelihood ratios and posttest probability revealed that the Pilot INV-III may assist in detection of expressive language delays, but viewed alone it is insufficient to make an unconditional screening determination.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that Spanish parent surveys hold promise for screening language delay in Spanish-speaking preschool children; however, further refinement of these tools is needed.
Guiberson
Mark
M
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, 80639, USA. mark.guiberson@unco.edu
Rodríguez
Barbara L
BL
D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D017058:Mexican Americans; D019303:Multilingualism; D010290:Parents; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014705:Verbal Behavior