Developmental Status of Young Children in China: Findings from Parent Report and Direct Assessment. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development Conference, Salt Lake City, USA, March 23 - 25, 2023

Abstract

<p>Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.2 (by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education) has been put forward to promote early childhood development. SDG Target Indicator 4.2.1, which measures the proportion of children aged 24 to 59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex, is used to monitor progress toward SDG Target 4.2. A parent report measure, the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI2030), which was developed by UNICEF, has been used to determine whether children between 24 and 59 months old are “developmentally on track.” This study used the ECDI2030 and a corresponding direct assessment measure, the Early Childhood Development Assessment Scale (ECDAS), to measure children’s on-track status. It addressed the following research questions: (1) What is the proportion of children who are “developmentally on track,” as measured by parent report and direct assessment?; (2) What is the relation between the two methods of measuring children’s developmental status?; and (3) Are the associations and differences between the two methods moderated by child age, gender, urbanicity, maternal education level, SES, and do they vary across assessment domains?<br><br>Participants were 680 children (344 girls), aged from 36 to 72 months, who attended 17 kindergartens in Beijing and Heibei province in China. The sample was stratified by age, gender, and urbanicity. Children were assessed, in individual sessions, with the ECDAS (iPad) (α = .87). Parents or caregivers were asked to rate children’s behaviors on ECDI2030 items (α = .71). Parent questionnaires were completed on an online platform because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<br><br>Results indicated that both parent reports and direct assessment results were positively associated with child age, socioeconomic status, maternal education, urban residence, and female gender. Parent report yielded a significantly higher proportion of children who were developmentally on track (93.56%) than direct assessment (52.18%). Examinations of associations between the two assessment methods showed caregivers were less sensitive and discriminating of the competencies of older children. Findings from linear regressions of score differences on moderators indicated that after controlling for child age, parents with lower levels of education, with lower SES, who lived in rural areas and who rated male children were more likely to give higher ratings to children than other parents. Furthermore, correlations between parent reports and direct assessment were the highest for the Learning domain suggesting parents were more accurate in reporting skills that could be easily observed. Both measures suggested that children showed different rates of development across the health, learning and psychosocial well-being domains. Findings highlight methodological issues in measuring SDG Target Indicator 4.2.1 in China. They point to the value of using multiple methods to evaluate child development given the differences in results between parent report and direct assessments.<br></p>