Aspects of social and emotional development during childhood are widely recognized as crucial for the future development of cognitive function (Carter, Briggs-Gowan, & Davis, 2004; Saarni, Campos, Camras, & Witherington, 2008). However, child development does not always progress without complications and the early identification and detection of delays rely on developmental screening. The Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) is a tool that was designed to assess these skills in 6-month-old to 5-year-old children, and is part of the ASQ System, which includes tools for assessing and monitoring child development (Squires, Bricker, & Twombly, 2002).

ASQ:SE is comprised of eight questionnaires that contain Likert-type items. Summing the items allows a rapid and objective indicator of child development with three classification possibilities: typical, questionable (or monitor), and at risk (Squires, Bricker, Heo, & Twombly, 2001). The classification of typical development occurs when a child’s score falls below the cut-off for referral, whereas delayed development is the result of a child’s score falling above the cut-off.

According to the theoretical model of the ASQ:SE, the social and emotional domains are highly correlated, but some differences can be mapped and represent different constructs. The social domain is related to the ability to negotiate social situations, and it is associated with a positive relationship among peers. The emotional domain refers to the ability to regulate one’s own emotions in different social situations. An important feature of this domain is the ability to recognize both one’s own and others’ emotions (Saarni et al., 2008).

Furthermore, seven behavioral areas can be found in its structure: (1) Self-regulation, (2) Compliance, (3) Communication, (4) Adaptive functioning, (5) Autonomy, (6) Affect, and (7) Interaction with people. Self-regulation is the ability to adjust to environmental or physiological conditions. Conformity is the ability to conform with and obey orders. Communication refers to the ability to respond to verbal and non-verbal cues. Adapted functioning is the ability to cope with physiological needs. Autonomy is the ability to take initiative. Affection is the ability to show feelings and empathy for others. Interaction is the ability to respond to parents, other adults, and peers (Laurent & Gorman, 2018; Squires & Bricker, 2009; Squires et al., 2002).

Because the theoretical model of ASQ:SE is linked to child development milestones, its technical manual (user guide) does not rely on a specific investigation of factorial structure. The focus of the manual is to provide information on the scoring of all questionnaires, developing and monitoring programs and interventions that can improve child development, among other features. Therefore, the manual content allows to understand ASQ:SE as being composed by a Multidimensional structure that comprises the seven behavioral areas previously mentioned, or a Second-order or a Bifactor model. Figure 1 describes the proposed models.

Figure 1

Regarding the psychometric properties, the original study of the ASQ:SE relies on an evaluation of 3,014 children aged between 6 months and 5 years old to compute indicators of validity, reliability and produce normative tables. The convergent and criterion validity were accessed with part of the sample that was evaluated by ASQ:SE, by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and by a team of professionals with doctors and psychologists. Hence, we verified their ability to identify true positives (sensitivity) and true negatives (specificity) in each of the evaluated age groups. The sensitivity varied between 0.75 and 0.89, and the specificity had an average of 0.92 (Briggs et al., 2012; Squires & Bricker, 2009). ASQ:SE has had validation studies conducted in the United States, Spain (Squires et al., 2001), and Korea (Heo & Squires, 2012). In the United States, the use of ASQ:SE has been replaced by ASQ:SE 2, which also evaluates the 2-month age group.

In Brazil, only a few instruments have been developed and used to assess development of preschoolers and there is a lack of studies about the dimensional structure of the ASQ:SE. On the other hand, ASQ:SE is becoming frequently used among professionals that work with child evaluation and treatment (Anunciação, Chieh-yu, Squires, & Fernandez, 2018; Filgueiras, Pires, & Landeira-Fernandez, 2014; Fioravanti-bastos, Filgueiras, Lucia, & Moura, 2016), which has generated the need to explore the psychometric properties of the ASQ:SE within the Brazilian sample to ensure the interpretation of its results (AERA, APA, & NCME, 2014).

As such, the present study explored the psychometric aspects of the ASQ:SE using data from 5-year-old Brazilian children. This age was chosen because social and emotional skills are more easily discriminable in 5-year-old children than in 6-month-old infants, as pointed out by specific literature (Gordon & Browne, 2014; Shulman, 2016).

This work integrates a larger study in cooperation with the Secretary of Education of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro to develop a large-scale assessment to assess the development of children who were enrolled in public daycare centers and preschools, and to measure the effectiveness of educational public policies. This project was stopped in 2013, and one of its main objectives was to explore the psychometric aspects of ASQ:SE in the population of children enrolled in public day care centers in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2011 and 2012 (N = 76,760).

As previously discussed, the ASQ:SE items address seven behavioral areas correlated with each other. This was the first model tested. However, the results showed a non-positive covariance matrix. This can occur for multiple reasons: a set of variables greater than that of respondents, linear dependence, variables with constant responses, polymorphic correlation, missing data, and factors with few items (Costello & Osborne, 2011). In this regard, the dimension “Autonomy” had a correlation above 1 with Self-regulation, Communication, and Adaptive functioning, which indicated its dependence.

The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality ensures that the correlational results are in the range [-1,1]. However, this can occur because Mplus estimates the correlation between dimensions indirectly. As the software violates this limitation and presents estimated results, although inadequate, the adjustment indicators were: χ² (443) = 45468,210, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.067; CFI = 0.828; TLI = 0.807.

The second order hierarchical model also had a negative matrix, with adjustments χ² (457) = 54260.201, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.073; CFI = 0.794; TLI = 0.776. Results in the same direction also occurred in the bifactor model, which was not identified, and therefore did not have its parameters and adjustment indicators estimated.

As previously reported, situations like this call for changes in the models considered. Thus, we chose to perform an EFA after reaching a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin factor adequacy of 0.91 and a significant Bartlett test of homogeneity of variance (K-squared = 83920, df = 31, p < 0.01). The EFA was modeled up to 7 dimensions, and a Parallel analysis of 10,000 permutations of the raw data was conducted to determine the number of dimensions to extract (Marsh, Morin, Parker, & Kaur, 2014). Image 2 shows the obtained Scree Plot and Table 1 shows the obtained adjustment indicators.

Table 1

Dimensions	Parameters	χ2	df	P-Value	CFI	TLI	RMSEA
1 dimension	32	89.388	464	< 0.001	0.842	0.831	0.093
2 dimensions	63	24.565	433	< 0.001	0.957	0.951	0.05
3 dimensions	93	14.628	403	< 0.001	0.975	0.969	0.04
4 dimensions	122	9.960	374	< 0.001	0.983	0.977	0.034
5 dimensions	150	7.219	346	< 0.001	0.988	0.982	0.03
6 dimensions	177	5507.95	319	< 0.001	0.991	0.986	0.027
7 dimensions	203	4.242	293	< 0.001	0.993	0.988	0.025

Figure 2

The results suggested the retention of 2 dimensions, indicating this model is acceptable and has a correlation of 0.532 (p < 0.01). Thus, a random sub-sample containing 25% of the original base (n = 6,706) served to perform the CFA of this model, which is exposed in Figure 3.

Figure 3

The adjustments of this model were χ² (463) = 46363.495, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.067; CFI = 0.918; TLI = 0.913 and all items were statistically significant (p <0.01). The labeling of the dimensions were based on key-items. The dimension composed of items such as “Does your child like to play with other children?” And “Do other children like to play with your child?” was labeled as Social, and the dimension composed of the item “Does your child try to hurt other children, adults, or animals (for example, by kicking or biting)?” And “When your child is upset, can he/she calm down within 15 minutes?” was labeled as Emotional.

Cronbach’s Alpha and McDonald’s Omega were calculated for each of the dimensions, as well as for the scale as a whole. The social dimension presented a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.91 and the McDonald’s Omega of 0.82. The Emotional dimension presented a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.85 and McDonald’s Omega of 0.82. The scale presented a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.93 and McDonald’s Omega of 0.87.

Thus, since the model fit indicators meet the necessary criteria, the version shown in Table 2 is considered suitable for use with Brazilian children aged 5-years old.

Table 2

Item	Content	Emotional	Social
24	A criança segue regras … (Follow rules)	0.85
15	A criança faz o que você … (Do what you ask)	0.84
31	A criança aguarda sua vez … (Take turns and share when playing)	0.76
20	A criança consegue passar de uma atividade … (Move from one activity to the next one)	0.76
13	A criança consegue se manter em uma atividade … (Stay with activities she/he enjoys)	0.75
25	A criança destrói ou estraga coisas … (Destroy things on purpose)	0.74
7	A criança consegue se acalmar … (Can settle down after exciting activity)	0.73
30	A criança tenta machucar outras crianças … (Try to hurt other children)	0.70
5	Quando está aborrecida, a criança consegue se acalmar … (Calm down within some minutes)	0.67
9	A criança chora, grita ou faz birra … (Have tantrums)	0.64
23	A criança se machuca … (Hurt him/herself on purpose)	0.60
22	A criança faz movimentos … (Do things over and over)	0.57
16	A criança parece mais ativas que outras crianças … (Is more active than other children)	0.52
26	A criança se mantém afastada de coisas perigosas … (Stay away from dangerous things)	0.51
11	A criança vai ao banheiro sozinha … (Go to the bathroom by him/herself)	0.45
12	A criança tem qualquer tipo de problema para comer … (Have eating problems)	0.40
17	A criança dorme pelo menos 8 horas em um período de 24 horas … (Sleep at least 8 hours)	0.39
32	A criança mostra curiosidade ou conhecimento de linguagem de atividade sexual … (Show an interest of adult sexual activity)	0.35
6	A criança parece exageradamente amigável … (Too friendly with strangers)	0.34
2	A criança se agarra em você mais … (Cling to you more than you expect)	0.24
28	Outras crianças gostam … (Other children like to play with your child)	.	0.90
18	A criança usa palavras … (Use words to tell he/she needs)	.	0.82
1	A criança olha para você … (Look at you)	.	0.76
29	A criança gosta de brincar … (Like to play)	.	0.75
19	A criança usa palavras para descrever seus sentimentos e os sentimentos … (Use words to describe his/her feelings)	.	0.72
10	A criança tem interesse pelo que está a sua volta … (Interested in things)	.	0.70
8	A criança parece feliz … (He/she seems happy)	.	0.68
27	A criança demonstra preocupação pelos sentimentos de outras pessoas … (Show concern for other people’s feelings)	.	0.67
4	A criança fala e/ou brinca com adultos … (Talk or play with adults)	.	0.54
3	A criança gosta de ser abraçada ou aconchegada … (Like to be cuddled)	.	0.51
21	A criança explora lugares novos, como um parque ou a casa de um amigo … (Explore new places)	.	0.42
14	Você e a criança curtem o momento da refeição … (Enjoy mealtime)	.	0.38
	Cronbach’s Alpha (α)	0.85	0.91
	McDonald’s Omega (ω)	0.82	0.87
	Correlation between factors = 0.532 (p < 0.01)
	CFI = 0.918; RMSEA = 0.067

Psychological characteristics such as social and emotional development are of an abstract or latent nature rather than an observable and tangible. Its hypothetical concepts are never absolutely confirmed, but the psychometric analysis of the responses to test items provides a scientific way to relate these latent traits to the observed behavior. This work aimed to analyze the psychometric aspects of the ASQ:SE construct validity using data from 5-year-old children. After data analysis, it was possible to verify that the ASQ:SE measures the social and emotional domains of children with this age. Some of the main results are discussed below.

One way of monitoring child development and preventing possible delays and difficulties is through continuous evaluation of its progress and the accomplishment of its milestones. The use of instruments with scientific evidence for aspects of validity and reliability are fundamental resources for its use and for interpreting the results generated by the test. In addition to such conditions, it is recommended that such instruments have: (1) easy and context-appropriate application in which persons without specific training are able to apply and correct it, as well as (2) normative tables in which their use improve the practical utility of the tool (Fernald, Kariger, Engle, & Raikes, 2009).

The theoretical model of the ASQ:SE proposes that 7 behavioral areas are evaluated by their items and considers that child development is part of a process that, although dynamic, has some specific markers (Engle & Black, 2008; Squires et al., 2002). The empirical results within the Brazilian context did not allow for confirming this dimensional model. There are different possible explanations for this, with one of the main ones being related to the number of items needed for factorial identification. This occurred in the Autonomy and Self-regulation dimension. Factors with less than three items are unstable and eventually are not identified in confirmatory analyses (Furr & Bacharach, 2008).

Many considerations can be made when the theoretical model does not fit the data and this result often occurs in psychometrics, especially because of the development of computational psychometrics. As data analysis methods have undergone several modifications, current negative results can be positive due to new techniques (Cano, Cano, & Hobart, 2011; Ropovik, 2015). In the present study, this misfit was only true for the model that considers specific items related to the seven behavioral areas, but the empirically obtained two-dimensional structure was psychometrically adequate. In addition to this, it is widely accepted today that validity is not a property of the instrument itself, but rather of the interpretations of its results and depends on several sources of evidence (AERA et al., 2014). As ASQ:SE was developed to be a screening instrument, in which the sum of the results was built to be a quick and sensitive indicator of possible delays in developmental milestones, its use is recommended as a screening tool for infants and young children.

On this subject, the oblique model that considers a social and an emotional dimension reached appropriate indicators of its construct validity. This is also valid for reliability results. This is because the psychometric properties guarantee the results obtained by the ASQ:SE, and are fast and contextually adapted, while also being valid and reliable (Headrick & Sheng, 2013; Higham & Arnold, 2007; Pasquali, 1996).

The Social dimension has brought together items in which aspects of interaction, communication, and affection are present. Interaction with peers as well as children’s ability to communicate with others is evidence which is already known in studies on the development of social aspects in childhood. When brought together, these conditions enable the child to have a sense of confidence and security in the world (McKown, Gumbiner, Russo, & Lipton, 2009).

The Emotional dimension brought together items in which self-regulation and compliance conditions are accessed. It is known that the ability of self-regulation provides the child with the ability to monitor and evaluate their emotional states, aiming to better adapt to the environment (Squires et al., 2002). Studies show that children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a low capacity in this sense since they have difficulty managing their emotions, as well as a lower ability to postpone possible bonuses and to switch between tasks (Laurent & Gorman, 2018).

The ability of compliance is also a vital trait in child development. It indicates that the child has the ability to assertively follow rules (Squires et al., 2002). In the same way as previously mentioned, children with ASD have a greater limitation regarding the understanding, respect and acceptance of orders and rules (Ekas, McDonald, Pruitt, & Messinger, 2017), which is also evidenced in children with alterations in behavior and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Fleming, McMahon, & King, 2017).

It is well established in the literature that the first five years of life are fundamental for child development and have long-lasting consequences (Gordon & Browne, 2014). A set of evidence demonstrates that non-cognitive skills, such as social and emotional domains, are important predictors of the development of language skills, mental health competencies and academic success (Saarni et al., 2008). As risk situations during development is analogous to shift the course of an ocean liner two degrees at the beginning of a voyage and try to fix it later, the assessment of child development is the first step to fulfill the learning potential of children by ensuring health and social services when they are needed.

Child development screening tools help professionals to individually monitor the progress each child has made in their developmental markers. In addition, the results help identify those who may be experiencing any difficulty in which a diagnostic evaluation is needed. Child care starts with psychometric assessment of children’s development and growth.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of ASQ:SE with data from children enrolled in public daycare centers in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2011. As ASQ:SE is frequently used, the investigation of its properties is fundamental to ensure the validity of interpretations of the results.

In summary, ASQ:SE had its dimensional structure explored within a SEM framework and the results of a two-dimensional structure (social and emotional) were psychometrically reliable and valid within the Brazilian context. This result is partially convergent to the specific literature of the test, which extends the model considering 7 specific behavioral areas.

It is important to note that this research is not free of limitations. Scales that rely on hetero-assessment data present inaccurate or partial information about the studied object. In addition, external indicators could not be analyzed because the data collection was only done with the ASQ:SE. However, we attempted to reduce some of the problems by cleaning the dataset used, splitting the database when different techniques were performed and using a modern statistical approach.

Despite these limiting conditions, the present study offers psychometric evidence for using the ASQ:SE in Brazilian children aged 5 years old. Thus, it is believed that the study brings important contributions to professionals who need to have direct or indirect measures on child development.

New research in which the investigation of psychometric aspects, such as Differential Item Functioning (DIF), and aspects of child development such as latent growth curve are being carried out in order to amplify the results found herein, as well as to replicate them.