Parental estimate of child's developmental level in a high-risk population
J. Coplan
Forty-six children referred for developmental assessment underwent formal
testing of language and intellectual development, and for each child a
formal developmental quotient (FDQ) was obtained. Each child's mother was
asked to provide a subjective estimate of her child's level of function,
which was converted to a developmental quotient by dividing by the child's
chronological age. The correlation coefficient between this derived
parental developmental quotient estimate (DPDQE) and the FDQ was .85 (P
less than .001). The DPDQE displayed 75% sensitivity and 100% specificity
in detecting children with an FDQ of 69 or less. The DPDQE may be useful as
one component of the routine office examination for preschool children.
