A pilot longitudinal follow-up study of the Brief Infant Toddler Social–Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) in Northern Finland: examining toddlers’ social–emotional, behavioural and communicative development

Abstract

Abstract Developmental needs should be assessed in early infancy and followed longitudinally to improve identification, prevention and intervention efforts.The objective was to examine the relationship between competencies and areas of need in toddlers' development, and to describe the properties and utility of the Brief Infant Toddler Social–Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) in a pilot study in Northern Finland. Parents (N = 50) evaluated toddler development at 18 and 36 months. Assessments included the BITSEA, the Child Behavior Checklist and the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. Lower communicative skills were associated with an increase in toddler behavioural problems. Social–emotional competence (S-EC) was associated with better communication development. Parents reporting enhanced communication skills and S-EC in their toddlers also reported fewer behavioural problems in their young children; however, further research employing the BITSEA in a larger and heterogeneous sample of Finnish children is needed to determine appropriate cut-off scores and reliability especially for the unique subscales of BITSEA. Keywords: MCDICBCLBITSEAtoddlerchildrendevelopment Acknowledgements This study was supported by grants to Helena Haapsamo from the Alma and K.A. Snellman Foundation, Finland. The Graduate School of Circumpolar Wellbeing, Health and Adaptation is also acknowledged for their support.