Concurrent validity in language and motor domains on the Vineland-3 and Mullen Scales of Early Learning in young children with Down syndrome.

Background: Obtaining information about individual's abilities in specific areas of development can be used to monitor early developmental progress in young children with Down syndrome (DS). Two commonly used measures which assess specific areas of development are the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3rd Edition (VABS-3 parent interview). In DS, previous work found a positive association and moderate agreement between overall composite scores of these two measures. No study has explored the comparability of overlapping domains between the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview in young children with DS.

Aim: This study examined the concurrent validity between overlapping language and motor domains from two sources of information, parent report (VABS-3 interview) and direct assessment (MSEL) in young children with DS.

Methods And Procedures: Twenty-three young children with DS (14 males; mean age = 34.52, SD = 10.12, 13-48 months) completed the MSEL, which was administered by a trained examiner. Parents completed the VABS-3 interview remotely. Overlapping areas include language (receptive language; RL and expressive language; EL) and motor skills (fine motor; FM and gross motor; GM).

Outcomes And Results: Median age equivalent (AE) scores were similar when comparing overlapping domains. Across all four domains, MSEL and VABS-3 AE scores were strongly to very strongly positively associated (r range: 0.82-0.94; all p values < 0.0001). The level of agreement between the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview AE scores by domain ranged from moderate (FM, GM, and RL) to substantial (EL) agreement.

Conclusions And Implications: At a young age, the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview provide a coherent portrait of age-level functioning in language and motor domains. Findings can help inform clinicians and researchers in selecting assessment tools to monitor developmental progress in growing hybrid in-person and telehealth care models. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS?: Given the recent growth in hybrid clinical and research models that combine in-person and telemedicine visits, it is essential to better understand how direct in-person measures and remote/indirect parent report measures assessing language and motor skills relate to each other in young children with DS. This study evaluates concurrent validity using two different methods: parent report (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3rd Edition; VABS-3 interview) and direct assessment (Mullen Scales of Early Learning; MSEL), when measuring child developmental status in four overlapping domains (receptive language, expressive language, gross motor, and fine motor skills) in young children with DS. Findings suggest that for young children with DS, the VABS-3 parent interview provides similar age equivalent scores and developmental progress monitoring compared to the direct MSEL assessment.