Validity and Reliability Study of the Chinese (Traditional) Version of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Toddlers (DECA-T)

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Data and C-DECA-T T Scores

	Subjects			Controls			p-Value (t-Test)
	(n=50)			(n=75)
	n		%	n		%	p-Value (Chi-square)
Sex							0.018
Male	32		64	31		41.3
Female	18		36	44		58.7
Paternal Education							0.292
Senior high school or below	11		22.4	10		13.3
University or college	26		53.1	39		52
Master degrees or above	12		24.5	26		34.7
Maternal Education							0.131
Senior high school or below	10		20.4	6		8
University or college	30		61.2	53		70.7
Master degree or above	9		18.4	16		21.3
	Mean		SD	Mean		SD	t-Test
Age (months)	27.905	±	4.46	27.025	±	5.353	0.342
Height (cm)	88.61	±	6.43	88.43	±	5.96	0.881
Body weight (kg)	12.53	±	2.25	12.5	±	1.86	0.946
Paternal C-DECA-T (T Score)
Attachment/Relationships	46.60	±	9.78	52.27	±	9.55	0.008
Initiative	47.12	±	10.40	51.92	±	9.31	0.002
Self-Regulation	46.73	±	9.77	52.18	±	9.61	0.009
Total Protective Factors	46.60	±	9.78	52.27	±	9.55	0.002
Maternal C-DECA-T (T Score)
Attachment/Relationships	47.08	±	11.40	51.95	±	8.48	0.007
Initiative	45.85	±	10.22	52.76	±	8.89	<0.001
Self-Regulation	46.02	±	9.43	52.65	±	9.54	<0.001
Total Protective Factors	45.81	±	10.54	52.79	±	8.62	<0.001

Table 2 Reliability Statistics of the C-DECA-T

Indicator	Inter-Rater Reliability		Test–Retest Reliability			Scale Reliability
	ICC [95% CI]	r[95% CI]	Paternal r [95% CI]	Maternal r [95% CI]	Parents r [95% CI]	Cronbach’s α	Revelle’s β	McDonald’s ωt	McDonald’s ωh	LCRC
TPF	0.46 [0.29, 0.59]	0.47 [0.36, 0.57]	0.82 [0.74, 0.88]	0.77 [0.67, 0.85]	0.80 [0.74, 0.85]	0.94	0.72	0.95	0.63	0.94
A/R	0.41 [0.23, 0.55]	0.37 [0.25, 0.48]	0.81 [0.72, 0.87]	0.73 [0.61, 0.81]	0.77 [0.70, 0.82]	0.92	0.88	0.94	0.76	0.93
IN	0.52 [0.37, 0.63]	0.48 [0.37, 0.58]	0.83 [0.75, 0.88]	0.73 [0.61, 0.81]	0.77 [0.71, 0.83]	0.84	0.69	0.87	0.68	0.86
SR	0.66 [0.55, 0.74]	0.58 [0.49, 0.67]	0.73 [0.61, 0.81]	0.71 [0.59, 0.80]	0.72 [0.64, 0.79]	0.74	0.51	0.81	0.59	0.77

Note: Bold value signifies a reliability index ≥0.7.

Abbreviations: ICC, intraclass correlations; CI, confidence interval; IC, internal consistency; AR, Attachment/Relationships; IN, Initiative; SR, Self-Regulation; TPF, Total Protective Factors.

Table 3 Mokken Scale Analysis of the C-DECA-T

Subscale	Item Number	Mean ± SD	Hi	Monotonicity	Non-Intersection^a
Attachment/Relationships	6	3.62 ± 0.53	0.42	0	89^b
Hs=0.47	2	3.54 ± 0.59	0.34	0	47
	36	3.51 ± 0.60	0.35	0	57
	18	3.51 ± 0.60	0.33	0	74
	15	3.51 ± 0.61	0.4	0	94^b
	4	3.50 ± 0.61	0.29	21	83^b
	14	3.49 ± 0.63	0.34	0	60
	5	3.46 ± 0.63	0.36	0	63
	17	3.45 ± 0.61	0.3	0	82^b
	20	3.44 ± 0.61	0.39	0	79
	11	3.44 ± 0.63	0.38	0	92
	22	3.44 ± 0.60	0.44	0	83^b
	25	3.43 ± 0.57	0.43	0	70
	8	3.36 ± 0.65	0.43	0	71
	7	3.33 ± 0.65	0.44	0	84^b
	1	3.23 ± 0.72	0.38	0	57
	13^c	3.20 ± 0.73	0.4	0	78
	24	3.17 ± 0.72	0.38	0	53
	21	2.95 ± 0.76	0.23	22	87^b
Initiative	27	3.25 ± 0.66	0.39	0	55
Hs=0.38	19	2.99 ± 0.77	0.29	18	76
	9	2.88 ± 0.79	0.38	0	63
	31^c	2.85 ± 0.87	0.34	16	69
	16	2.84 ± 0.86	0.41	0	77
	26	2.81 ± 0.98	0.38	18	79
	32	2.71 ± 0.82	0.39	0	55
	12	2.64 ± 0.91	0.32	0	79
	28	2.61 ± 0.93	0.3	0	79
	10	2.60 ± 0.83	0.36	0	51
	29	2.36 ± 0.88	0.27	27	122^b
Self-Regulation	35	3.15 ± 0.77	0.23	0	89^b
Hs=0.35	3^c	2.80 ± 0.76	0.34	0	77
	30	2.68 ± 0.79	0.32	0	91^b
	34	2.49 ± 0.81	0.31	25	114^b
	33	2.14 ± 0.83	0.33	0	55
	23	1.99 ± 0.77	0.28	0	82^b
Total Protective Factor Hs=0.35

Notes: ^aNon-intersection was checked using method rest score. ^bThe violation of assumptions of monotonicity and non-intersection was assessed using the crit statistic: crit values >80 indicate serious violations. Items 4, 6, 7, 11, 15, 17, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 34, and 35 were removed before the backward selection. ^cItems 3, 13, and 31 were removed in the backward selection using method manifest invariant item ordering (MIIO). The coefficient H^T was 0.43 for the remaining 20 items.

Abbreviations: H_s, scale scalability; H_i, item scalability.

Table 4 Pearson’s Correlations Between the Subscales of the C-DECA-T and Demographic Date, Child Behaviour Problems, and Parental Emotional Distress

	A/R	IN	SR	TPF
CBCL/1.5–5
DSM-Oriented Scales
Depression	−0.174**	−0.214**	−0.192**	−0.221**
Anxiety	−0.069	−0.196**	−0.155*	−0.151*
ASD	−0.217**	−0.274**	−0.138*	−0.255**
ADHD	−0.054	−0.271**	−0.287**	−0.208**
ODD	−0.092	−0.243**	−0.257**	−0.209**
Narrowband syndrome
Emotional reactive	−0.073	−0.235**	−0.122	−0.162*
Anxious/depressed	−0.104	−0.208**	−0.141*	−0.170**
Somatic complaints	−0.047	−0.122	−0.104	−0.099
Withdrawn	−0.274**	−0.242**	−0.146*	−0.272**
Sleep problems	−0.006	−0.085	−0.112	−0.065
Attention problems	−0.134*	−0.287**	−0.266**	−0.249**
Aggressive behaviour	−0.064	−0.234**	−0.236**	−0.185**
Broadband syndrome
Internalizing scale	−0.160*	−0.303**	−0.204**	−0.253**
Externalizing scale	−0.083	−0.302**	−0.284**	−0.234**
Total problems scale	−0.134*	−0.307**	−0.259**	−0.255**
CHQ-12
Father	−0.027	−0.190**	−0.315**	−0.166**
Mother	−0.142*	−0.229**	−0.130*	−0.197**

Notes: **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).

Abbreviations: A/R, Attachment/Relationships; IN, Initiative; SR, Self-regulation; TPF, Total Protective Factors; ASD, autism spectrum disorder; ADHD, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; ODD, oppositional defiant disorder; CBCL/1.5–5, Chinese version of Child Behavior Checklist for Age 1.5–5, parent form; CHQ-12, Chinese Health Questionnaire.

Figure 1 ROC curve of C-DECA-T.