Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · 2016 · 321 citations · 61 references
EducationHuman DevelopmentPsychologyChild DevelopmentDevelopmental PsychologySocial-emotional DevelopmentEarly ChildhoodSocial-emotional InterventionAssessmentsChild Well-being AssessmentEarly Childhood Behavior InterventionEarly Childhood Developmental AssessmentSocial Competence AssessmentSocial-emotional Competence
The paper critically reviews early‑childhood social and emotional development measures for use in national surveys and intervention evaluations. The authors reviewed key literature, organized it around four subdomains—social competence, emotional competence, behavior problems, and self‑regulation—and examined whether executive function is captured by these measures. Six of 75 reviewed instruments were identified as strong candidates for broad use with children 0–5 years, and the authors discuss how to enhance their usefulness and guide future development.
This paper provides a critical review of measures of social and emotional development in early childhood for use within large-scale national surveys of child well-being and evaluations of early childhood interventions and initiatives. Key literature on social and emotional development was reviewed and organized around four commonly used subdomains: social competence, emotional competence, behavior problems, and self-regulation. Six measures, out of 75 which met criteria for more systematic review, were identified as good candidates for broader use with children birth to age five, based on their having a majority of 10 key features of strong assessments. The review also examines whether executive function is captured by measures of social and emotional development. Implications for enhancing the usefulness and effectiveness of social and emotional measures in the field and implications for future measures development are considered.
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