Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Brazilian Portuguese Version of an Observational Measure for Parent–Child Responsive Caregiving

Abstract

Responsive caregiving is the dimension of parenting most consistently related to later child functioning in both developing and developed countries. There is a growing need for efficient, psychometrically sound and culturally appropriate measurement of this construct. This study describes the cross-cultural validation in Brazil of the Responsive Interactions for Learning (RIFL-P) measure, requiring only eight minutes for assessment and coding. The cross-cultural adaptation used a recognized seven-step procedure. The adapted version was applied to a stratified sample of 153 Brazilian mother–child (18 months) dyads. Videos of mother–child interaction were coded using the RIFL-P and a longer gold standard parenting assessment. Mothers completed a survey on child stimulation (18 months) and child outcomes were measured at 24 months. Internal consistency (α = 0.94), inter-rater reliability (r = 0.83), and intra-rater reliability (r = 0.94) were all satisfactory to high. RIFL-P scores were significantly correlated with another measurement of parenting (r’s ranged from 0.32 to 0.47, p < 0.001), stimulation markers (r = 0.34, p < 0.01), and children’s cognition (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), language (r = 0.28, p < 0.001), and positive behavior (r = 0.17, p < 0.05). The Brazilian Portuguese version is a valid and reliable instrument for a brief assessment of responsive caregiving.

Development and Evaluation of an Open-Source, Online Training for the Measurement of Adult-Child Responsivity at Home and in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings

“…Specifically, in Canadian samples, scores on the RIFL-P have been found to correlate with other parental sensitivity measures, to be inversely associated with contextual risk, and to relate to child outcomes including receptive vocabulary, executive functioning, theory of mind, and academic achievement (Prime et al, 2014a(Prime et al, , 2014b(Prime et al, , 2015Sokolovic et al, 2021a). The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the RIFL-P demonstrates high reliability (internal consistency α = .94; inter-and intra-rater r's between .83 and .94) and validity (correlations with the PICCOLO parenting measure r's between .32 and .47; correlations with children's cognition, language, and behavior r's between .17 and .29; Schneider et al, 2021). The Spanish version also shows good reliability (internal consistency α = .97; inter-rater r = .87) and validity (correlations with parenting measures of autonomy support [Whipple et al, 2011] r = .70, and parental control r = -.47).…”

“…Despite international acceptance of the importance of responsive caregiver-child interactions, there is a clear need to refine and standardize measurements for this aspect of caregiving (Jeong et al, 2018(Jeong et al, , 2021. Proxy indicators (e.g., parental mental health, childcare availability, frequency of proxy activities with children; UNICEF & Countdown to 2030Pierce, 2021) were initially used to assess the construct, but our group has developed efficient (8 minutes) and psychometrically strong instruments that can be used at the population level in home and educational contexts (Pauker et al, 2018;Prime et al, 2015;Schneider et al, 2021;Sokolovic et al, 2021aSokolovic et al, , 2021b.…”

“…An observational assessment of interaction quality-the Responsive Interactions for Learning (RIFL) measure (previously called Cognitive Sensitivity)-was originally developed using a Canadian sample of parents (Prime et al, 2015) and early childhood educators (Pauker, et al, 2018;Sokolovic et al, 2021b) interacting with young children. Since its development, the RIFL measures have been successfully adapted and tested in LMICs, including Brazil (Schneider et al, 2021) and Peru. This psychometrically sound measure assesses a person's ability to understand and respond appropriately (incorporating sensitivity and stimulation) to the thoughts and feelings of the person with whom they are interacting.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue on Early Child Development: From Measurement to Optimal Functioning and Evidence-Based Policy

“…Early child development measurement tools and their association with long-term outcomes were covered by many papers included in this issue [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Janus et al [ 1 ] synthesized research using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), which was developed in Canada as a population-level assessment of children’s developmental health at school entry.…”

“…This is the first ASD culturally sensitive pediatric tool that guides the comprehensive description of functioning in Latin America. In addition, Schneide et al [ 5 ] describe the cross-cultural validation of the responsive interactions for learning measure, the authors show that the Brazilian Portuguese version is a valid and reliable instrument for a brief assessment of responsive caregiving.…”