Adaptación al español y validación de criterio de una escala para la tamización de problemas emocionales y del comportamiento en la primera infancia

Abstract

Introduction: Early identification of emotional and behavioral risk in children can contribute to the development of strategies that promote mental health from early childhood. In Colombia, we do not count with a validated screening tool for emotional and behavioral problems in this population. Objectives: To identify, adapt, and establish evidence for the criterion validity of a screening tool for emotional and behavioral problems in less than 6-year-old children. Materials and methods: We selected the Early Childhood Screening Assessment (ECSA) after a literature review and expert consensus and then we undertook its linguistic adaptation. For criterion validity, we used the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) comparing the scale with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1,5-5). The sample included 206 caregivers of children between 1.5 and 6 years of age from the city of Tunja and the municipality of Sopó. Results: The ECSA showed a good correlation with the total t-score of the CBCL 1,5-5 (Spearman rho= 0,75, p<0,01). The scale showed a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 82% at a cut-off point of 24. Conclusion: In this first adaptation to Spanish and validation study of the ECSA scale, we found good sensitivity and specificity values for the screening of emotional and behavioral problems in early childhood.

Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Early Childhood Screening Assessment

“…Thus, ECSA results in quite similar mental health scores in early childhood as the CBCL. This clearly supports the convergent validity of the ECSA and corroborates results reported in the United States (Gleason et al, 2010) and Spain (Cano et al, 2018) for the total scale.…”

“…Therefore, studying concordance including CBCL borderline cases can improve sensitivity. The sensitivity and specificity of the ECSA total score are good and comparable to those reported for the English and the Spanish version (Gleason Cano et al, 2018). We found a high accuracy in identifying children with externalizing symptoms compared the CBCL.…”

“…As previous research suggests a differentiation of internalizing and externalizing symptoms at that early age, we wanted to examine whether the factor structure of the ECSA favors the published one-factor solution or whether a two-factor solution would better explain the data when using a confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, we intended to replicate and extend previous findings on the concordance, diagnostic accuracy, and correlation with an accepted gold standard, the CBCL as reported in previous studies (Gleason et al, 2010;Cano et al, 2018).…”

“…Moreover, for early childhood, the ECSA is the only measure validated against a formal psychiatric diagnosis and is included in the tool kit (Fallucco et al, 2017). Meanwhile, a Spanish version of the ECSA has been published also showing good sensitivity and specificity compared to the CBCL (Cano et al, 2018) and a German version has been used in a study on early adversity and child development (Zimmermann et al, 2016).…”

Emocionalidad, conducta, habilidades sociales, y funciones ejecutivas en niños de nivel inicial

“…Esto denota un control emocional precario que confluye en un mal comportamiento, y de este modo incide de manera negativa en el desarrollo de su emocionalidad y el aprendizaje de HHSS apropiadas. Estos eventos son más evidentes cuando ingresan al sistema escolar, debido a que allí existen normativas que se les dificulta cumplir (Cano, Acosta, & Pulido, 2018;Muchiut A. , 2018;Peña-Olvera & Palacios-Cruz, 2011). Concretamente se entiende por control emocional precario a la dificultad que presentan los niños/as de controlar las emociones, considerando el contexto en el que se desenvuelven.…”