Broad Developmental Screening Misses Young Children With Social-Emotional Needs

Marian E Williams; Irina Zamora; Olawunmi Akinsilo; Alison Hickey Chen; Marie Kanne Poulsen

doi:10.1177/0009922817733700

Broad Developmental Screening Misses Young Children With Social-Emotional Needs

Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2018 Jun;57(7):844-849. doi: 10.1177/0009922817733700. Epub 2017 Sep 27.

Authors

Marian E Williams^{1

2}, Irina Zamora^{1

2}, Olawunmi Akinsilo¹, Alison Hickey Chen³, Marie Kanne Poulsen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ 1 Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² 2 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ 3 Westside Children's Center, Culver City, CA, USA.

PMID: 28952371
DOI: 10.1177/0009922817733700

Abstract

Many pediatricians use a broad developmental screening test as part of well-child care, but do not specifically screen for behavioral and emotional disorders. Parents at 2 urban community agencies completed both the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE) for 608 children, ages 2 to 60 months; 51.8% in Spanish. Less than half of the children with a positive screen on the ASQ:SE would have been identified as needing additional assessment or intervention if only the ASQ-3 had been administered. Younger children with positive ASQ:SE screens were significantly less likely to be referred for mental health services compared with older children. Physicians should consider screening all young children for social-emotional and behavioral needs, and referring those identified for infant and early childhood mental health services.

Keywords: developmental screening; infant mental health; social-emotional.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Affective Symptoms / diagnosis*
Child, Preschool
Developmental Disabilities / diagnosis*
Diagnostic Errors*
Female
Health Surveys / methods
Hospitals, Pediatric
Humans
Infant
Los Angeles
Male
Mass Screening / methods*
Mental Disorders / diagnosis*
Mental Health Services / organization & administration
Needs Assessment
Risk Assessment
Social Skills
Surveys and Questionnaires*