When predicting child developmental outcomes, reliance on children's scores on measures of developmental functioning alone might mask more subtle behavioral difficulties especially in children with developmental risk factors. The current study examined predictors and stability of examiner behavior ratings and their association with concurrent and subsequent mental and motor performance in toddlers born at extremely low birth weight. Toddlers were evaluated using the Behavior Rating scale (BRS) and the mental and psychomotor indexes of the Bayley-II at 18 and 30 months corrected age. BRS total and factor scores showed moderate stability between 18 and 30 months. These scores also predicted 30-month Mental Scale and Psychomotor Scale scores above and beyond prior mental and motor performance. Our findings suggest that early behavior ratings are associated with child mental and motor performance; therefore, behavior ratings might be useful in identifying toddlers at developmental risk and who might benefit from early intervention.
Keywordsextremely low birth weight; Bayley; behavior ratings; performance Child performance on standardized measures of developmental functioning is a relatively consistent predictor of subsequent performance in similar domains within the first three years of life. Among typically developing children, behavior observations made by trained examiners are associated with developmental test performance (Banergee & Tamis-LeMonda, 2007;Cardon & Fulker, 1991;DiLalla et al., 1990;Field, Dempsey, & Shuman, 1979;Glutting, Youngstrom, Oakland, & Watkins, 1996;Matheny, 1980;Yarrow, Morgan, Jennings, Harmon, & Gaiter, 1982). Less is known, however, about the extent to which early ratings of child behavior during testing situations predict subsequent developmental functioning. In this study, we examined the relationship between ratings of toddler behavior and subsequent performance in a sample of children born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW).Children born at lower birth weight are at higher risk for behavioral and other impairments than other children (Anderson et al., 2003;Aylward, 2002;Constantinou et al., 2005;Lowe et al., 2005;Saigal et al., 2001;Sajaniemi, Hakamies-Blomqvist, Katainen, & von Wendt, 2001;Whitfield et al., 1997 18-and 30-month old toddlers who had been born at extremely low birth weight (≤ 1000g). These toddlers exhibited lower mean scores than their higher birth weight peers on standardized measures of mental and motor functioning (Aylward, 2002;Constantinou, Adamson-Macedo, Mirmiran, Ariagno, & Fleisher, 2005;Dezoete, MacArthur, & Tuck, 2003;Shankaran et al., 2004;Vohr et al., 2000;Vohr, Wright, Poole, & McDonald, 2005;Walsh et al., 2005). Recent studies have suggested that poor performance on these measures might be predicted by early deficits in behavior regulation including difficulty adapting to change, difficulty sustaining attention, increased activity level, increased need for examiner support, and decreased persistence in attempting to complete tasks (Anderson...