Development and Evaluation on Reliability and Validity of the Screening Scale of Language and Related Developmental Disorders in Preschool Children

Objective: To develop a screening scale for language and related developmental disorders in 4- to 5-year-old preschool children in China, and to evaluate its reliability and validity, thereby providing a rapid and effective tool for the early detection of language-related disorders and early rehabilitation support. Methods: Based on the “Developmental Checklist for Preschool Children,” the scale for the 4- to 5-year-old stage was simplified, transformed, and revised. Through two rounds of expert scoring and revision using the Delphi method, the initial version of the scale was established. From January 2023 to October 2023, 4- to 5-year-old children visiting the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University and the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University were selected as research participants and tested in two phases: pre-testing and formal testing. The final version of the scale was determined, and its reliability and validity were assessed. Results: The screening scale for preschool children’s language and related developmental disorders comprises two main dimensions: overall development and language communication ability. The language communication ability dimension includes six sub-dimensions—language expression, language comprehension, language naming, language repetition, articulation ability, and social behavior—and consists of a total of 16 items. The Cronbach’s α coefficient and Guttman split-half reliability coefficient for the 4- to 5-year-old stage scale were 0.88 and 0.82, respectively. The I-CVI of the scale ranged from 0.71 to 1.00, while the S-CVI was 0.94. The Spearman correlation coefficients between each factor ranged from 0.01 to 0.96, and the Spearman correlation coefficients between each factor and the total scale ranged from 0.43 to 0.82. Conclusion: The screening scale for preschool children’s language and developmental disorders demonstrates excellent reliability and validity and can serve as an effective auxiliary tool for the early screening of language and related developmental disorders in 4- to 5-year-old preschool children in China.