Measuring Developmental Delays: Comparison of Parent Report and Direct Testing.
Sally Ozonoff, Devon Gangi, Laura Corona and 14 others
PMID 38407697WHAT IT FOUND
Parent-reported developmental scores matched direct testing results closely in toddlers evaluated for autism.
Misclassification rates were low, meaning most children flagged for speech or motor delays by direct testing were also flagged by parent report, supporting telehealth assessment.
Key findings
01Parent-reported developmental scores on the Developmental Profile 4 were highly correlated with direct testing scores on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning across standard scores, age equivalents, and functional categories.
02Misclassification rates where parent report indicated average functioning but direct testing indicated delays were low, ranging from 10% to 17% across domains.
03Overall composite scores from the two instruments were strongly correlated, suggesting the parent report provides a reasonable estimate of general developmental functioning.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was heavily weighted toward children with autism (76%), so results may not generalize to children without autism concerns. The high rate of autism may have created floor effects that artificially increased the apparent agreement between the two measures. The study only included children up to 42 months old, so it is unclear if this level of agreement holds for older preschool children. The two assessments were separated by two to four weeks, during which time child development or testing conditions could have varied.
Declared interests
No specific funding or conflict of interest declarations were provided in the text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume parent report is identical to direct testing. While correlations were high, 10-17% of children were classified as average by parents but below average by clinicians, meaning direct testing may still identify delays that parent report misses.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →