Early Childhood Screening in Immigrant and Refugee Families

Principal Investigator: Rebecca Gokiert
Research Team: Jeff Bisanz, Lisa Tews, Yvonne Chui, Michelle Craig
Funder: Canadian Council on Learning
Duration: 2006-2008

The Early Childhood Screening in Immigrant and Refugee Populations project was designed to examine the cultural validity of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ®), for use with immigrant and refugee children.

Working in partnership with the Multicultural Health Brokers Co-op, the project used a multi-method approach to determine if the ASQ is effective in screening young children's development from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, or if there are barriers that require unique tools or approaches.

Findings

  • children from immigrant background had limited exposure to activities and objects embedded in items on the (ASQ®);
  • some items conflicted with cultural/family patterns of socialization; and
  • different cultural groups possess different standards for measuring children's development.

Cross Cultural Lessons: Early Childhood Developmental Screening and Approaches to Research and Practice, is a community handbook summarizing the key lessons and messages that emerged from the study. The handbook can be accessed here.