Psychometric properties of early childhood development assessment tools in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
cg.contributor.affiliationHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Healthen
cg.contributor.affiliationStellenbosch Universityen
cg.contributor.affiliationBrown University School of Public Healthen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of California Berkeleyen
cg.contributor.affiliationCentre for Chronic Disease Controlen
cg.contributor.affiliationHarvard Graduate School of Educationen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Costa Ricaen
cg.contributor.affiliationEmory Universityen
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Edinburghen
cg.contributor.affiliationAfrica Health Research Institute (AHRI)en
cg.contributor.initiativeResilient Cities
cg.contributor.programAcceleratorFood Frontiers and Security
cg.creator.identifierLilia Bliznashka: 0000-0003-2084-1141en
cg.creator.identifierDeanna Olney: 0000-0002-2420-8565en
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096365en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Nutrition, Diets, and Health Uniten
cg.identifier.publicationRankBen
cg.isijournalISI Journalen
cg.issn2044-6055en
cg.issue5en
cg.journalBMJ Openen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systems
cg.subject.impactAreaPoverty reduction, livelihoods and jobs
cg.volume15en
dc.contributor.authorBliznashka, Liliaen
dc.contributor.authorHentschel, Elizabethen
dc.contributor.authorAli, Nazia Binteen
dc.contributor.authorHunt, Xantheen
dc.contributor.authorNeville, Sarah Elizabethen
dc.contributor.authorOlney, Deanna K.en
dc.contributor.authorPitchik, Helen O.en
dc.contributor.authorRoy, Aditien
dc.contributor.authorSeiden, Jonathanen
dc.contributor.authorSolís-Cordero, Katherineen
dc.contributor.authorThapa, Aradhanaen
dc.contributor.authorJeong, Joshuaen
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-13T14:33:27Zen
dc.date.available2025-05-13T14:33:27Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/174557
dc.titlePsychometric properties of early childhood development assessment tools in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic reviewen
dcterms.abstractObjective Valid and reliable measurement of early childhood development (ECD) is critical for monitoring and evaluating ECD-related policies and programmes. Although ECD tools developed in high-income countries may be applicable to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), directly applying them in LMICs can be problematic without psychometric evidence for new cultures and contexts. Our objective was to systematically appraise available evidence on the psychometric properties of tools used to measure ECD in LMIC. Design A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data sources MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, SciELO and BVS were searched from inception to February 2025. Eligibility criteria We included studies that examined the reliability, validity, and measurement invariance of tools assessing ECD in children 0–6 years of age living in LMICs. Data extraction and synthesis Each study was independently screened by two researchers and data extracted by one randomly assigned researcher. Risk of bias was assessed using a checklist developed by the study team assessing bias due to training/administration, selective reporting and missing data. Results were synthesised narratively by country, location, age group at assessment and developmental domain. Results A total of 160 articles covering 117 tools met inclusion criteria. Most reported psychometric properties were internal consistency reliability (n=117, 64%), concurrent validity (n=81, 45%), convergent validity (n=74, 41%), test–retest reliability (n=73, 40%) and structural validity (n=72, 40%). Measurement invariance was least commonly reported (n=16, 9%). Most articles came from Brazil, China, India and South Africa. Most psychometric evidence was from urban (n=92, 51%) or urban–rural (n=41, 23%) contexts. Study samples focused on children aged 6–17.9 or 48–59.9 months. The most assessed developmental domains were language (n=111, 61%), motor (n=104, 57%) and cognitive (n=82, 45%). Bias due to missing data was most common. Conclusions Psychometric evidence is fragmented, limited and heterogeneous. More rigorous psychometric analyses, especially on measurement invariance, are needed to establish the quality and accuracy of ECD tools for use in LMICs.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.audiencePolicy Makersen
dcterms.audienceScientistsen
dcterms.available2025-05-11en
dcterms.bibliographicCitationBliznashka, Lilia; Hentschel, Elizabeth; Ali, Nazia Binte; Hunt, Xanthe; Neville, Sarah Elizabeth; Olney, Deanna K. et al. 2025. Psychometric properties of early childhood development assessment tools in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. BMJ Open 15(5): e096365. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096365en
dcterms.extent10 p.en
dcterms.issued2025-05en
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-NC-4.0
dcterms.publisherBMJ Groupen
dcterms.subjectchild developmenten
dcterms.subjectless favoured areasen
dcterms.subjectpoliciesen
dcterms.subjectpsychologyen
dcterms.typeJournal Article

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