ITSEA-PARENT - Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment - Parent Form

The ITSEA assesses for social or emotional problems and competencies in infants and toddlers and was designed to identify children with deficits or delays in these areas. It provides a comprehensive profile of problems and competencies with scores on 4 domains:

1) Externalizing

2) Internalizing

3) Dysregulation

4) Competence.

Each domain is comprised of a number of subscales (see sample items). The ITSEA also yields scores on three clusters that include atypical behaviors: Maladaptive, Social Relatedness, and Atypical. There are two versions, a Parent Form and a Childcare Provider Form; both are reviewed in this database.

Overview

Acronym: 

ITSEA-PARENT

Authors: 
Carter, Alice S., & Briggs-Gowan, Margaret
Citation: 

Carter, A.S., & Briggs-Gowan, M. (2005). ITSEA BITSEA: The Infant-Toddler and Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment. PsychCorp: San Antonio, TX.

Contact Information: 

Alice.Carter@umb.edu www.harcourtassessment.com

Cost: 
Cost Involved
Copyrighted: 
Yes
Domain Assessed: 
Grief/Loss
Anxiety/Mood (Internalizing Symptoms)
Health
Age Range: 
1-3
Measure Type: 
General Assessment
Measure Format: 
Questionnaire

Administration

Number of Items: 
25
Average Time to Complete (min): 
25
Reporter Type: 
Parent/Caregiver
Average Time to Score (min): 
5
Periodicity: 
Last Month
Response Format: 

3-point scale: 0 = Not true/rarely, 1 = Somewhat true/sometimes, and 2 = Very true/often. A No Opportunity code allows raters to indicate they have not had the opportunity to observe the behavior.

Materials Needed: 
Paper/Pencil
Sample Items: 
DomainsScaleSample Items
Information Provided: 
Areas of Concern/Risks
Continuous Assessment
Graphs (e.g. of elevated scale)
Percentiles
Raw Scores
Standard Scores
Strengths

Training

Training to Administer: 
Training by Experienced Clinician (less than 4 hours)

Psychometrics

Notes on Psychometric Norms: 

Separate norms are provided for the Parent Form by gender and age (12-17 months, 18-23 months, 24-29 months, and 30-36 months). Norms are presented this way because the authors report that age and gender differences found on scale and subscale scores suggest the "importance of comparing the scores of young children within relatively narrow age bands (i.e., 6 months) and to children of their own sex" (Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2005 p. 50).

Clinical Cutoffs: 
Yes
Clinical Cutoffs Description: 

PROBLEM SCORES: Cut scores =>90th percentile, Of Concern T-score between 63 and 69; Clinical T>=70. COMPETENCE SCORES: Cut scores =<10%; Of Concern: T between 31 and 37; Deficit/Delay T=>30.

Reliability: 
TypeRatingStatisticsMinMaxAvg
Test-Retest
Internal Consistency
Inter-rater
Parallel/Alternate Forms
Construct Validity: 
Validity TypeNot knownNot foundNonclincal SamplesClinical SamplesDiverse Samples
Convergent/Concurrent
Discriminant
Sensitive to Change
Intervention Effects
Longitudinal/Maturation Effects
Sensitive to Theoretically Distinct Groups
Factorial Validity
Criterion Validity: 
Not KnownNot FoundNonclinical SamplesClinical SamplesDiverse Samples
Predictive Validity:
Postdictive Validity:

Translations

Translation Quality: 
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Population Information

Use with Diverse Populations: 
Population Type: 123456

Pros & Cons/References

Pros: 

1. The items appear clear and easy to understand. 2. The measure was developed specifically to assess infants and toddlers and includes items that are developmentally sensitive and relevant to young children. 3. Assesses competencies as well as problem behaviors. 4. Norms are presented separately by age and gender following the results of analyses that suggest the importance of comparing young children to others in their age band and sex. Many other measures for young children do not present norms in this way and have not conducted analyses looking at differences among groups of younger children. 5. There is a Childcare Provider version with identical items and scales to allow for comparisons between reporters

Cons: 

1. The measure is somewhat long. Studies of consumer satisfaction seem to suggest that approximately 39% felt the measure was somewhat too long or too long. However, these parents were part of a community sample. A clinic sample might be able to balance the length of the measure with the value of the information it yields. 2. The age range of the measure 1-3 is awkward for treatment-outcome research and longitudinal studies because children need to fall in that age range at pre-, post-, and follow-up assessment periods. 3. With regard to using the measure for trauma-exposed children, there is no scale that directly measures trauma symptoms, so another measure would need to be used to capture trauma symptomatology. 4. Psychometrics have been examined primarily by the authors. More research would be helpful. In addition, although the measure has been shown to be sensitive to treatment effects, it has not yet been used in randomized controlled designs, which would allow a test of sensitivity to different intervention conditions. 5. As with most parent report measures, items are face valid and parent may respond defensively or in biased ways. There are no validity scales associated with this measure

Last Updated: 
Saturday, August 5, 2017