Early intervention eligibility as assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development -Second Edition and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales -Survey Form

Caroline A Boettcher, Pace University

Abstract

With federal legislation requiring free evaluation of children under three years old suspected of developmental delay, practitioners need guidance to best determine eligibility for Early Intervention programs. Studies have shown that the type of measures used and the type of scores reported can influence whether a child is deemed eligible for services. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how children are identified for New York City Early Intervention services according to the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, a professionally administered measure, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Survey Form a parent interview. Analyses compared communication and motor skills standard scores, age equivalents and Bayley-II facet scores. The influence of the developmental domain assessed and child and parent characteristics on parent-professional ratings were also examined. The study involved a chart review of 54 children from 2–37 months old (M = 22.5, SD = 8.32) evaluated through Early Intervention. Parents ranged in age from 19–59 years ( M = 29.74, SD = 7.34) and were 99% mothers. Most participants were of minority status, including 38% Hispanic/Latino and 23% African-American/Black. Comparing measures using the McNemar test for correlated proportions, more children were determined eligible with Vineland age scores than Bayley-II age scores for communication and motor skills. The reverse held true for standard scores, as the Bayley-II identified more children than the Vineland. Comparing type of scores, more children were found eligible with age equivalents than standard scores on the Vineland for communication and motor delay. Bayley-II facet scores found more children eligible than age equivalents and standard scores, but only on the communication domain. There was no difference for motor skills. Characteristics of child's age, parent's age and parent's education were not found to moderate the relationship between Bayley-II and Vineland scores on either domain, as determined by hierarchical multiple regression techniques. Tests of dependent correlations revealed that parent-professional ratings were not influenced by the domain assessed. The findings of this study support “best practices” of infant assessment, including use of multiple measures and clinical opinion, since relying solely on test scores results in a discrepant number of children identified for Early Intervention in New York City.

Subject Area

Clinical psychology|Developmental psychology|Quantitative psychology

Recommended Citation

Boettcher, Caroline A, "Early intervention eligibility as assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development -Second Edition and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales -Survey Form" (2001). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI9983994.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI9983994

COinS