Test selection, adaptation, and evaluation : a systematic approach to assess nutritional influences on child development in developing countries

Prado, Elizabeth and Hartini, Sri and Rahmawati, Atik and Ismayani, Elfa and Hidayati, Astri and Hikmah, Nurul and Muadz, Husni and Apriatni, Mandri S. and Ullman, Michael T. and Shankar, Anuraj H. and Alcock, Katherine J. (2010) Test selection, adaptation, and evaluation : a systematic approach to assess nutritional influences on child development in developing countries. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (1). pp. 31-53. ISSN 0007-0998

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Abstract

Background: Evaluating the impact of nutrition interventions on developmental outcomes in developing countries can be challenging since most assessment tests have been produced in and for developed country settings. Such tests may not be valid measures of children's abilities when used in a new context. Aims: We present several principles for the selection, adaptation, and evaluation of tests assessing the developmental outcomes of nutrition interventions in developing countries where standard assessment tests do not exist. We then report the application of these principles for a nutrition trial on the Indonesian island of Lombok. Sample: Three hundred children age 22-55 months in Lombok participated in a series of pilot tests for the purpose of test adaptation and evaluation. Four hundred and eighty-seven 42-month-old children in Lombok were tested on the finalized test battery. Methods: The developmental assessment tests were adapted to the local context and evaluated for a number of psychometric properties, including convergent and discriminant validity, which were measured based on multiple regression models with maternal education, depression, and age predicting each test score. Results: The adapted tests demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and the expected pattern of relationships with the three maternal variables. Maternal education significantly predicted all scores but one, maternal depression predicted socio-emotional competence, socio-emotional problems, and vocabulary, while maternal age predicted socio-emotional competence only. Conclusion: Following the methodological principles we present resulted in tests that were appropriate for children in Lombok and informative for evaluating the developmental outcomes of nutritional supplementation in the research context. Following this approach in future studies will help to determine which interventions most effectively improve child development in developing countries.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
British Journal of Educational Psychology
Additional Information:
This is the pre review version of the following article: Prado, E. L., Hartini, Sri., Rahmawati, Atik., Ismayani, Elfa., Hidayati, Astri., Hikmah, Nurul., Muadz, Husni., Apriatni, M. S., Ullman, M. T., Shankar, A. H. and Alcock, K. J. (2010), Test selection, adaptation, and evaluation: A systematic approach to assess nutritional influences on child development in developing countries. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80: 31–53. doi: 10.1348/000709909X470483 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/000709909X470483/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/psychology
Subjects:
?? psychologyeducationdevelopmental and educational psychologybf psychology ??
ID Code:
31013
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
15 Dec 2009 13:25
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
22 Feb 2024 00:42