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Wang Y-C1, Chen Y-Y1, Wang S-Y1, Zheng Y-H1, Wu Y-T1,2
1National Taiwan University, School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, 2National Taiwan University Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei, Taiwan
Background: The Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) is a comprehensive norm-referenced developmental test for testing child's cognitive, language, and motor developments from ages 0 to 68 months. It has been widely used for the research of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the reports of cultural adaptation of the MSEL in non-western societies was scarce. Few studies have investigated the psychometric properties for Asian populations, and the validation of the MSEL-Taiwan version (MSEL-T) for Taiwanese children has yet to be established.
Purpose: This study aimed to
1) establish a Taiwan version of the MSEL which was culturally and linguistically adapted for using on Taiwanese population;
2) examine the concurrent validity of MSEL-T subscales with the Vinland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS) and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Second Edition (PDMS-2);
3) examine the discriminative validity of the MSEL among typically developing (TD) toddlers, toddlers with multiple developmental delays (DD) and toddlers with ASD; and
4) examine the predictive validity of MSEL-T subscales scores from ages 24 to 36 months.
Methods: A total of 100 toddlers aged 24 to 36 months were recruited during the years of 2015 to 2017, which consisted of 16 toddlers with DD, 26 toddlers with ASD and 58 TD toddlers. The MSEL scales was translated into Mandarin Chinese. The vocabularies and sentence structure of all items in the scoring sheet were modified for the accommodation of the terms used in Taiwan. All participants were assessed using the MSEL-T and the PDMS-2 at 24, 30 and 36 months old. Furthermore, child's adaptive behavior at 36 months was assessed using the VABS. The correlations between the MSEL-T and VABS subscales scores and the MSEL-T with the PDMS-2 scores were estimated by the Pearson correlation coefficients. The group differences of MSEL-T subscale scores were examined by using the Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc test for pairwise comparisons. The prediction of MSEL-T scores at younger ages for the scores at older ages were examined by using the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE).
Results: The MSEL-T and VABS showed moderate to high correlations in all subscale scores (r = 0.4 ~ 0.83, all p's > 0.05). Likewise, the MSEL-T and PDMS-2 showed high correlations in motor subscales scores (r = 0.78 - 0.8, all p's > 0.05). Furthermore, the MSEL-T scores could distinguish from toddlers with ASD, toddlers with DD and TD toddlers in all MSEL-T subscales (all p's 0.05), except for the Gross Motor scales (p = 0.82). Moreover, all MSEL-T subscales showed an increase of scores with the advancing ages (all p's > 0.05).
Conclusion(s): The preliminary findings showed that the MSEL-T revealed acceptable validity for developmental assessments in Taiwanese toddlers with typical or atypical development.
Implications: Overall, these findings suggest that the MSEL-T is a promising tool that could be used by pediatric physical therapist for assessing multiple developmental functions in Taiwanese toddlers.
Keywords: MSEL, validity, toddlers
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. (MOST 106-2314-B-002 -050 -MY3).
Purpose: This study aimed to
1) establish a Taiwan version of the MSEL which was culturally and linguistically adapted for using on Taiwanese population;
2) examine the concurrent validity of MSEL-T subscales with the Vinland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS) and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales Second Edition (PDMS-2);
3) examine the discriminative validity of the MSEL among typically developing (TD) toddlers, toddlers with multiple developmental delays (DD) and toddlers with ASD; and
4) examine the predictive validity of MSEL-T subscales scores from ages 24 to 36 months.
Methods: A total of 100 toddlers aged 24 to 36 months were recruited during the years of 2015 to 2017, which consisted of 16 toddlers with DD, 26 toddlers with ASD and 58 TD toddlers. The MSEL scales was translated into Mandarin Chinese. The vocabularies and sentence structure of all items in the scoring sheet were modified for the accommodation of the terms used in Taiwan. All participants were assessed using the MSEL-T and the PDMS-2 at 24, 30 and 36 months old. Furthermore, child's adaptive behavior at 36 months was assessed using the VABS. The correlations between the MSEL-T and VABS subscales scores and the MSEL-T with the PDMS-2 scores were estimated by the Pearson correlation coefficients. The group differences of MSEL-T subscale scores were examined by using the Kruskal-Wallis test and post-hoc test for pairwise comparisons. The prediction of MSEL-T scores at younger ages for the scores at older ages were examined by using the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE).
Results: The MSEL-T and VABS showed moderate to high correlations in all subscale scores (r = 0.4 ~ 0.83, all p's > 0.05). Likewise, the MSEL-T and PDMS-2 showed high correlations in motor subscales scores (r = 0.78 - 0.8, all p's > 0.05). Furthermore, the MSEL-T scores could distinguish from toddlers with ASD, toddlers with DD and TD toddlers in all MSEL-T subscales (all p's 0.05), except for the Gross Motor scales (p = 0.82). Moreover, all MSEL-T subscales showed an increase of scores with the advancing ages (all p's > 0.05).
Conclusion(s): The preliminary findings showed that the MSEL-T revealed acceptable validity for developmental assessments in Taiwanese toddlers with typical or atypical development.
Implications: Overall, these findings suggest that the MSEL-T is a promising tool that could be used by pediatric physical therapist for assessing multiple developmental functions in Taiwanese toddlers.
Keywords: MSEL, validity, toddlers
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. (MOST 106-2314-B-002 -050 -MY3).
Topic: Paediatrics; Research methodology & knowledge translation; Outcome measurement
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: National Taiwan University Hospital
Ethics committee: Research Ethics Committee D
Ethics number: 201412012RIND
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
