Faculty Collaboration Database

Development and validation of PediaTrac™: A web-based tool to track developing infants. Infant Behav Dev 2018 Feb;50:224-237

Date

02/11/2018

Pubmed ID

29427921

DOI

10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.01.008

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85041531849 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   12 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: PediaTrac™, a 363-item web-based tool to track infant development, administered in modules of ∼40-items per sampling period, newborn (NB), 2--, 4--, 6--, 9-- and 12--months was validated. Caregivers answered demographic, medical, and environmental questions, and questions covering the sensorimotor, feeding/eating, sleep, speech/language, cognition, social-emotional, and attachment domains.

METHODS: Expert Panel Reviews and Cognitive Interviews (CI) were conducted to validate the item bank. Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) methods were employed to examine the dimensionality and psychometric properties of PediaTrac with pooled longitudinal and cross-sectional cohorts (N = 132).

RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for the Expert Panel Review revealed moderate agreement at 6 -months and good reliability at other sampling periods. ICC estimates for CI revealed moderate reliability regarding clarity of the items at NB and 4 months, good reliability at 2--, 9-- and 12--months and excellent reliability at 6 -months. CTT revealed good coefficient alpha estimates (α ≥ 0.77 for five of the six ages) for the Social-Emotional/Communication, Attachment (α ≥ 0.89 for all ages), and Sensorimotor (α ≥ 0.75 at 6-months) domains, revealing the need for better targeting of sensorimotor items. IRT modeling revealed good reliability (r = 0.85-0.95) for three distinct domains (Feeding/Eating, Social-Emotional/Communication and Attachment) and four subdomains (Feeding Breast/Formula, Feeding Solid Food, Social-Emotional Information Processing, Communication/Cognition). Convergent and discriminant construct validity were demonstrated between our IRT-modeled domains and constructs derived from existing developmental, behavioral and caregiver measures. Our Attachment domain was significantly correlated with existing measures at the NB and 2-month periods, while the Social-Emotional/Communication domain was highly correlated with similar constructs at the 6-, 9- and 12-month periods.

CONCLUSION: PediaTrac has potential for producing novel and effective estimates of infant development via the Sensorimotor, Feeding/Eating, Social-Emotional/Communication and Attachment domains.

Author List

Lajiness-O'Neill R, Brooks J, Lukomski A, Schilling S, Huth-Bocks A, Warschausky S, Flores AM, Swick C, Nyman T, Andersen T, Morris N, Schmitt TA, Bell-Smith J, Moir B, Hodges EK, Lyddy JE

Author

Tristin Nyman-Mallis PhD Assistant Professor in the Neurology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Caregivers
Child Development
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Internet
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Pilot Projects
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires