A Multi-Sample Comparison and Rasch Analysis of the Evaluation of Children's Listening and Processing Skills Questionnaire.
Sam Denys, Johanna Barry, David R Moore and 2 others
PMID 38825739WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers generally agree on children's listening difficulties, but scores differ between boys and girls.
Social listening scores vary significantly across countries. The questionnaire works, but clinicians must use gender-specific norms and be cautious when comparing international results.
Key findings
01Two caregivers rating the same child showed moderate agreement on total scores, but agreement varied by subscale.
02Boys received poorer scores on memory, attention, and social skills subscales compared to girls across samples.
03Social communication scores differed significantly between the UK population sample and the US/Flemish samples, likely due to cultural rather than linguistic differences.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The samples consisted only of typically developing children with normal hearing, so the results do not show how well the questionnaire identifies listening difficulties in children with actual disorders. The US and Flemish samples were convenience samples from similar socio-economic backgrounds, while the UK sample was population-based, which may explain some cross-cultural differences. Some questionnaire items showed poor fit to the statistical model, and the neutral response category was rarely used, suggesting the 5-point scale may not be optimal. The study did not test whether the questionnaire accurately identifies children with diagnosed auditory processing disorders, only how it functions in typical children.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by Horizon 2020, the Research Foundation Flanders, the UK Medical Research Council, and the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a high score on the social subscale in a UK child means they have worse listening skills than a Flemish child with a low score. The study found significant cultural differences in how social behaviors are reported, so cross-country comparisons of these specific scores are not valid without adjustment.