Caregiver-Reported Development in Term and Preterm Infants From Birth to Nine Months of Age: Psychometrics of the PediaTrac? Social/Communication/Cognition Domain

Term and preterm neonates were assessed at the newborn (NB) period (term, term equivalent) and at 2, 4, 6, and 9 months in a study of the psychometric properties of the Social/Communication/Cognition (SCG) domain of PediaTrac (TM) v3.0, a novel caregiver-based developmental monitoring instrument. Item response theory (IRT) was used to model item parameters and estimate theta, an index of the latent trait, social/communication/cognition. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to further clarify the dimensionality of the domain. In a cohort of 571 caregiver-infant dyads (331 term, 240 preterm), mean theta values could be reliably estimated at all time periods, with term infants demonstrating significantly more advanced social/communication/cognition abilities at 9 months of age. Itemdiscrimination and itemdifficulty of the 15, 15, 35, 47, and 57 items at the NB, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 9-month periods, respectively, could be reliably modeled across the range of ability. Total Information for the SCG domain was high and the reliability ranged from 0.97 to 0.99 (NB =.98, 2 month =.97, 4 month =.98, 6 month =.99 and 9 month =.99). EFA revealed second-order factors at each time period, with two factors at the NB period (affect/emotional expression, social responsiveness) accounting for 43% of variance; three factors at 2, 4, and 6 months (affect/emotional expression, social responsiveness imitation/emerging communication), accounting for 43%, 34%, and 34% of the variance, respectively; and four factors at 9 months (imitation/communication, nonverbal/gestural communication, affect expression, and social responsiveness), accounting for 34% of the variance. Public Significance Statement There is a pressing need for a universal, comprehensive, and psychometrically rigorous measure and system to track and monitor infant social-emotional, communication, and cognitive abilities. This psychometric study examines the cross-sectional measurement precision and validity of an online measure of social/communication/cognition abilities that can be used to identify infants in need of comprehensive assessment and intervention.