The Validity, Reliability, and Cost of a Parent-Completed Questionnaire System to Evaluate At-Risk Infants

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Abstract
This study examined the validity, reliability, and cost of parent-completed questionnaires designed to monitor the development of at-risk infants. Questionnaries were mailed to parents at 4-months intervals until their infants reached 24 months. Parents brought the infants to a center for a professional evaluation at the same 4-month intervals. The primary analyses included determining (a) the agreement between the infant's classification based on the parent-completed questionnaire and the professional-completed Gesell at each test interval, (b) the interobserver and test-retest reliability of the questionnaires, and (c) the cost of the questionnaire system. The results indicated that underscreening and overscreening rates varied across test intervals; however, overall agreement between parental and professional classification of infants was substantial. Interobserver and test-retest agreement were also very high whereas the cost of using the system was low, $2.50 per questionnaire. In light of the economy of using parents as primary screeners of their at-risk infants, the validity and reliability results were encouraging.