Development and validation of an early childhood development scale for use in low-resourced settings.
Low-cost, cross-culturally comparable measures of the motor, cognitive, and socioemotional skills of children under 3 years remain scarce. In the present paper, we aim to develop a new caregiver-reported early childhood development (ECD) scale designed to be implemented as part of household surveys in low-resourced settings.



We evaluate the acceptability, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and discriminant validity of the new ECD items, subscales, and full scale in a sample of 2481 18- to 36-month-old children from peri-urban and rural Tanzania. We also compare total and subscale scores with performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III) in a subsample of 1036 children. Qualitative interviews from 10 mothers and 10 field workers are used to inform quantitative data.



Adequate levels of acceptability and internal consistency were found for the new scale and its motor, cognitive, and socioemotional subscales. Correlations between the new scale and the BSID-III were high (r > .50) for the motor and cognitive subscales, but low (r < .20) for the socioemotional subscale. The new scale discriminated between children's skills based on age, stunting status, caregiver-reported disability, and adult stimulation. Test-retest reliability scores were variable among a subset of items tested.



Results of this study provide empirical support from a low-income country setting for the acceptability, reliability, and validity of a new caregiver-reported ECD scale. Additional research is needed to test these and other caregiver reported items in children in the full 0 to 3 year range across multiple cultural and linguistic settings.
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. dana_mccoy@gse.harvard.edu.|Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA. dana_mccoy@gse.harvard.edu.
Dana Charles
DC
McCoy
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Christopher R
CR
Sudfeld
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
David C
DC
Bellinger
Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, Tanzania.
Alfa
A
Muhihi
Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, Tanzania.
Geofrey
G
Ashery
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Taylor E
TE
Weary
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Wafaie
W
Fawzi
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Günther
G
Fink
D017028:Caregivers; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003906:Developing Countries; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009048:Motor Skills; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D066107:Social Skills; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013636:Tanzania
0–3; Early child development; Low-income countries; Measurement; Validation