Validation of the English version of the TOY8 developmental screening tool: examining measurement invariance across languages, gender and income groups

The English TOY8 demonstrates construct validity and reliable screening tool for identifying developmental milestones in children aged 3-5 years in Malaysia. In addition, configural and metric invariances across groups in all domains were established, indicating the cross-cultural equivalence of the items, and scalar invariance was established across genders in most 3- to 5-year-old domains. These findings provide preliminary evidence supporting reliability and validity that aligns with previous literature on child development, which indicates a general similarity in the gender and cross-cultural development domains in the first years of life, but not for older children, in terms of language and socioemotional skills.