Skip to main content
Log in

Not Lost in Translation: Modifying the Ages & Stages QuestionnairesTM for Use in Cross-Cultural Contexts

  • Screening (L Copeland, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Developmental Disorders Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of the review

An increase in the availability of early intervention services for young children from birth to 5 has led to a global demand for easy-to-use, inexpensive, parent-friendly assessment measures. In the last 10 years, the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) has been adapted for use in many different countries and languages, for its intended purpose (i.e., screening) but also for use in population and intervention studies.

Recent findings

A literature search resulted in 17 recently published articles that either addressed the adaptation or used a translated version of the ASQ as a measure. The majority of articles did not describe or address all of the recommended steps for translation.

Summary

We summarize recommended steps for translation and modification of assessment measures, review the recent literature addressing or including adapted versions of the ASQ, identify challenges that present when translating and/or modifying items, and suggest potential solutions to these challenges.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. UNICEF. Child poverty in perspective: an overview of child well-being in rich countries. In: IDEAS. 2007. https://ideas.repec.org/p/ucf/inreca/inreca07-19.html/. Child poverty in perspective: an overview of child well-being in rich countries. 15 Jul 2017.

  2. Fernald LH, Kariger P, Engle P, Raikes A. Examining early child development in low-income countries: a toolkit for the assessment of children in the first five years of life. Washington DC: The World Bank; 2009. p. 221. Report No.: 74771

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Bricker D, Squires J. Ages & Stages Questionnaires-Second Edition. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Squires J, Bricker D. Ages & Stages Questionnaires-Third Edition. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Squires J, Bricker D, Clifford J. Developmental screening measures: stretching the use of the ASQ for other assessment purposes. Infants & Young Children. 2010;23(1):14–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Frankenburg W, Dodds J. Denver Developmental Screening Test. Journal of Pediatrics. 1967;71(2):181–91.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Newborg J. Battelle Developmental Inventory. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghlin, Mifflin, Harcourt; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Squires J, Bricker D, Twombly E, Potter L. ASQ-3 User’s Guide. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Velikonja T, Edbrooke-Childs J, Calderon A, Sleed M, Brown A, Deighton J. The psychometric properties of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires for ages 2-2.5: a systematic review. Child: care, health and development. 2016;43(1):1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12397.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Armijo I, Schonhaut L, Cordero M. Validation of the Chilean version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-CL) in community health settings. Early Human Development. 2015;91:671–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Kyerematen V, Hamb A, Oberhelman R, Cabrera L, Bernabe-Ortiz A, Berry S. Exploratory application of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) child development screening test in a low-income Peruvian shantytown population. BMJ Open. 2014; https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004132.

  12. Pomes M, Squires J, Yovanoff P. Psychometric examination of a Spanish translation of a developmental screening instrument. Journal of Early Childhood Research. 2014:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X14529279.

  13. Schonhaut L, Armijo I, Schönstedt M, Alvarez J, Cordero M. Validity of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires in term and preterm infants. Pediatrics. 2013;131(5) https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2012-3313.

  14. Steenis LJ, Verhoeven M, Hessen DJ, van Baar AL. Parental and professional assessment of early child development: the ASQ-3 and the Bayley-III-NL. Early Human Development. 2015;91(3):217-225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2015.01.008.

  15. Hornman J, Kerstjens JM, de Winter AF, Bos AF, Reijneveld SA. Validity and internal consistency of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire 60-month version and the effect of three scoring methods. Early Hum Dev. 2013;89(12):1011–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2013.08.016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Juneja M, Mohanty M, Jain R, Ramji S. Ages and Stages Questionnaire as a screening tool for developmental delay in Indian children. Indian Pediatrics. 2012;49:457–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kvesta I, Taneja S, Kumar T, Bhandari N, Strand TA, Hysing M. The assessment of developmental status using the Ages and Stages Quesionnaire-3 in nutritional research in north Indian young children. Nutr J. 2013;12(50):1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sajedi F, Vameghi R, Mojembari A. Prevalence of undetected developmental delays in Iranian children. Child: Care, Health and Development. 2013; https://doi.org/10.1111/cch/12042.

  19. Vameghi R, Sajedi F, Mojembari A, Habibollahi A, Lornejad H, Delavar B. Cross-cultural adaptation, standardization and validation of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) in Iranian Children. Iran J Public Health. 2013;42(5):522–8.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Filgueiras A, Pires P, Maissonette S, Landeira-Fernandez J. Psychometric properties of the Brazilian-adapted version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire in public child daycare centers. Early Hum Dev. 2013;89:561–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Lopes S, Graca P, Teixeira S, Serrano A, Squires J. Psychometric properties and validation of the Portuguese version of Ages & Stages Questionnaires (3rd edition): 9, 18, and 30 Questionnaires. Early Hum Dev. 2015;91(9):527–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. • D’Aprano A, Silburn S, Johnston V, Robinson G, Oberklaid F, Squires J. Adaptation of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire for remote Aboriginal Australia. Qual Health Res. 2016;26(5):613–25. This is the only article in our review that provided evidence for all four designated aspects of the translation and modification process. This article emerged as our potential gold standard for translating and modifying assessments.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Charafeddine L, Sinno D, Ammous F, Yassin W, Al-Shaar L, Mikati MA. Ages and Stages Questionnaires: adaptation to an Arabic speaking population and cultural sensitivity. Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2013;17(5):471–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Dionne C, McKinnon S, Squires J, Clifford J. Developmental screening in a Canadian First Nation (Mohawk): psychometric properties and adaptations of Ages & Stages Questionnaires (2nd ed). BioMed Central Pediatrics. 2014; https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-14-23.

  25. Bian X, Yao G, Squires J, Hoselton R, Chen C-I, Murphy K, et al. Translation and use of parent-completed developmental screening test in Shanghai. J Early Child Res. 2012;10(2):162–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ostergaard K, Lando A, Hansen B, Greisen G. A Danish reference chart for assessment of psychomotor development based on the Ages & Stages Questionnaire. Dan Med J. 2012;59(6):1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  27. International Test Commission. The ITC guidelines for translating and adapting tests (Second edition). 2017. https://www.intestcom.org/files/guideline_test_adaptation_2ed.pdf.

  28. World Health Organization. Process of translation and adaptation of instruments. 2017. http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/research_tools/translation/en.

  29. • El-Behadli A, Neger E, Perrin E, Sheldrick C. Translation of developmental screening instruments: an evidence map of available research. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2015;36(6):471–83. These authors highlight the difficulty and time commitment in the process of translating and adapting an instrument in a different language. They caution that guidelines should be followed carefully.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Ball J. Promoting equity and dignity for Aboriginal children in Canada. In: IRPP Choices. 2008. http://web.uvic.ca/fnpp/documents/Ball_Promoting_equity.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2017.

  31. Ball J, Janyst P. Screening and assessment of Indigenous children: community-university partnered research findings. Policy Brief presented at the Early Years Policy Forum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 2008.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jantina Clifford.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Jantina Clifford, Jane Kaplan Squires, and Kimberly Murphy have received royalties from Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Screening

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Clifford, J., Squires, J.K. & Murphy, K. Not Lost in Translation: Modifying the Ages & Stages QuestionnairesTM for Use in Cross-Cultural Contexts. Curr Dev Disord Rep 4, 130–136 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-017-0121-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-017-0121-2

Keywords

Navigation