Abstract
Background
The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ‐3) is a parent‐completed screening to identify young children at‐risk for developmental delays in the United States and internationally. Federal programs operating on Navajo Nation use the ASQ‐3 to determine the need for early intervention services, even though the ASQ‐3 national sample used to establish cut‐off scores for referral included only 1% Native American children.
Objectives
The current study aimed to compare the ASQ‐3 results from a sample of Navajo infants to those from a representative national U.S. sample, and to examine the specificity and sensitivity of the ASQ‐3 in Navajo population.
Methods
The sample included 530 Navajo infants (47.3% males) aged between 1 and 13 months who lived in remote and rural areas across the Navajo Nation. Children’s development was assessed during home visits at 2, 6, 9, and 12‐month assessment windows.
Results
Results showed that after 6 months, Navajo children had lower mean scores and higher percentages of children at‐risk for developmental delays than those from the national sample. The sensitivities and specificities, estimated using a Bayesian diagnostic approach under both conservative and non‐conservative prior range choices, suggested a comparable validity performance to that from other ASQ‐3 studies.
Discussion
The results of this study along with our ongoing comprehensive assessments at 4 years of age inform current programs working with Navajo children to improve early identification of developmental delays.