Jill Sewell

The structure of infant temperament: Factor analysis of the revised infant temperament questionnaire☆

Abstract Factor analyses of the Carey and McDevitt (1978) Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ) with a representative sample of 2,443 Australian infants provided limited empirical support for its 9-dimension structure and indicated considerable redundancy in the scale. Of the 9 dimensions, only Rhythmicity and Persistence emerged as relatively pure factors. The other factors were formed from various combinations or divisions of the dimensions. Five infant temperament factors, Approach, Rhythmicity, Cooperation/Manageability, Activity/Reactivity, and Irritability, were chosen for the development of a short form (SITQ). This short form showed good internal consistency and replicability across subsamples of the total group, A 3-factor composite scale was also developed that allowed measurement of an easy to difficult continuum that was strongly related to concurrent behavior problems. Good test-retest reliability was demonstrated for both the 5 separate scales and the composite scale. Although similarities can be shown between the SITQ and various other infant temperament scales, the SITQ has the advantages of parsimony and a firm empirical basis.

Developmental assessment of children: A survey of Australian and New Zealand paediatricians

Objectives: To determine the current practice for developmental assessment of children by Australian and New Zealand paediatricians. To determine factors associated with higher levels of self‐reported confidence and expertise in developmental paediatrics and factors associated with better practice.

Comparison of mental health symptoms between children attending developmental/behavioural paediatric clinics and child and adolescent mental health service.

Aim:  Australian paediatricians are being referred many children with severe and complex behavioural presentations. Australian paediatricians are being referred many children with severe and complex behavioural presentations. The aim of this study was to compare patients seen in the developmental/behavioural paediatric clinic (DBP) with those seen in the community child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) of a paediatric teaching hospital. We hypothesised that the burden of emotional‐behavioural symptoms of children referred to these two services would be similar.

Chinese translation of strengths and difficulties questionnaire requires urgent review before field trials for validity and reliability

AbstractStrengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for children and teenagers aged 3 to 16 years. It is available in 66 languages, and gaining more popularity world wide. Chinese translation of SDQ is available and has been used in clinical practice and research. We undertook the exercise to back-translate the current Chinese translation and it showed a number of differences compared to the original English SDQ. The differences and concerns include: (1) the flow and grammar of Chinese translation as well as wrongly written Chinese characters; (2) translated words that have deviated from the original meaning; (3) significant numbers of wording that are somewhat different from the original English version; (4) addition of auxiliary verbs that do not exist in original English version; and (5) the current Chinese SDQ is a general questionnaire for all age groups that does not observe the differences of wording that exist in the English versions.ConclusionAn accurate translated Chinese version is important for researchers, clinicians and educators who work in the Chinese communities. There is an urgent need to review the translation of the Chinese SDQ version before more studies use it in the field.

Assessment of children with learning and behavioural problems: Comparison of a multidisciplinary and sole paediatrician model

This study aimed to compare multidisciplinary (MD) versus sole paediatrician (SP) assessment models for children with learning and/or behaviour difficulties.