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Type of Measure: From the SWYC website The SWYC was created in order to provide a screening instrument that is free of cost and easily accessed by parents, pediatricians, preschool teachers, nurses, and other professionals involved in child care and education, It is comprehensive, including cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development as well as family risk factors (parental depression, conflict, or substance abuse, and hunger). It is short and easy to score. It will soon be available in an electronic form (e.g. on a tablet computer or via the internet).
The SWYC covers 3 domains of functioning (Behavior and Emotion, Family Risk Factors, and Development), and it is composed of 6 questionnaires: Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist, Baby Pediatric Symptom Checklist, Family Questions, Parents Observation of Social Interaction, Developmental Milestones, and Parent’s Concerns. link

Also see a more thorough description on pages 100-103 of the HHS Birth to 5: Watch me thrive! (PDF) compendium of screening measures.

Target Population: The SWYC is for children under 5 years of age. Age-specific forms range from 2 to 60 months. SWYC forms

Measurement properties and previous use: The SWYC’s measurement properties have been established in peer-reviewed research. In particular, the SWYC matches up well against the (non-free) Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and to parent’s reports. The SWYC website discusses their efforts, and a presentation by the primary authors demonstrates shows that different components match up well against established screening tests.

From the Birth to 5: Watch me thrive! compendium (PDF): “Information is not provided about whether the full SWYC obtains the same results consistently across conditions or assessors (i.e., the tool’s reliability). Rather, the developers provide this information for three of the five scales used in the full SWYC (BPSC, PPSC, and POSI). For the BPSC and the PPSC, developers have examined whether children’s scores are consistent if the scales are administered once and then administered again soon (test-retest reliability). Results showed acceptable consistency on both scales. For the BPSC, the PPSC, and the POSI, developers have also examined the strength of the relationships between items that are intended to reflect the same set of skills or behaviors (internal consistency reliability). Results showed that relationships between items on these scales range from moderate to strong. Information is not provided about the extent to which the full SWYC measures what it is supposed to measure (i.e., the tool’s validity). The developers do provide this information for four of the five scales used in the full SWYC (Milestones, BPSC, PPSC and POSI). For The Developmental Milestones checklist, the BPSC and the PPSC, developers have examined the extent to which children’s scores on these scales are related to their scores on other developmental screening tools of similar domains (convergent validity). Results showed moderate relationships between children’s scores on these scales and their scores on other developmental screening tools. For The Developmental Milestones checklist, the PPSC and the POSI, developers have examined the accuracy with which these scales correctly identify children at risk for developmental delays (sensitivity) and the accuracy with which the scales correctly identify children not at risk for developmental delays (specificity). Results showed that The Developmental Milestones checklist, the BPSC, and the PPSC are moderately accurate at correctly identifying children at risk for developmental delays and demonstrate low to moderate accuracy at correctly identifying children not at risk for developmental delays.”

Languages: English, Spanish, Burmese, Nepali, and Portuguese. See The SWYC translation page for details

Authors and Citation: The SWYC is composed of several questionnaires, which are described in academic papers:

Sheldrick, R. C., & Perrin, E. C. (2013). Evidence-Based Milestones for Surveillance of Cognitive, Language, and Motor Development. Academic Pediatrics, 13(6), 577-586. DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2013.07.001.

Smith, N, Sheldrick, R.C., Perrin, E.C. (2012). An abbreviated screening instrument for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Infant Mental Health Jl. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21356. E-pub July 26, 2012.

Sheldrick, R.C., Henson, B.S., Merchant, S., Neger, E.N., Murphy, J.M., & Perrin, E.C (2012). The Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PPSC): Development and initial validation of a new social-emotional screening instrument. Academic Pediatrics, 12(5):456-67. PMID: 22921494.

Sheldrick, R.C., Henson, B.S., Neger, E.N., Merchant, S., Murphy, J.M., & Perrin, E.C (2012). The Baby Pediatric Symptom Checklist (BPSC): Development and initial validation of a new social-emotional screening instrument. Academic Pediatrics, epub ahead of print Oct 20 2012. PMID:23092547.

The overall SWYC: theSWYC, www.theSWYC.org

Also, see the authors’ publication list

Licence: From their FAQ The SWYC is freely available, but it cannot be modified without expressed permission of the authors. If you are interested in translating the SWYC into a new language or administering it in a way for which the downloadable forms are not appropriate, please contact us.

Link to measure: theSWYC.org

Corrections or updates? Let us know!