Concurrent validity in language and motor domains on the Vineland-3 and Mullen Scales of Early Learning in young children with Down syndrome.
Vineland-3 parent scores line up tightly with Mullen direct scores in toddlers with Down syndrome, so telehealth check-ins can reliably stand in when face-to-face testing is impossible.
01Research in Context
What this study did
La Valle et al. (2025) asked a simple question. Do parent-report Vineland-3 age scores match direct Mullen test scores in toddlers with Down syndrome? They looked at language and motor domains. They gave both tools to the same small group of children.
What they found
The two tests told the same story. High correlations showed up across language and motor areas. Age-equivalent scores were moderately to substantially congruent. In plain words, if the Vineland said 24 months, the Mullen usually landed close.
How this fits with other research
Belteki et al. (2025) seems to disagree. They saw only moderate overlap between Mullen scores and parent CDI reports in autism-risk infants. The gap is real but expected. CDI asks about single words; Vineland asks about daily living skills. Different questions, different overlap.
Morrison et al. (2017) set the stage. They found no big bias between parent report and direct testing across ASD, other delays, and typical toddlers. Chelsea’s team now confirms the same holds true inside Down syndrome only, tightening the circle.
Bhat (2024) backs the motor side. In kids with ASD, DCD-Q motor delays agreed 81 % with VABS motor scores. Both papers say parent report can be trusted when in-person testing is tough.
Why it matters
You can run a Vineland-3 parent interview over Zoom and still track true progress. No extra clinic trip. No extra stress for the family. Use the strong link to check if direct Mullen testing is worth the haul that quarter. If scores drift apart, schedule the hands-on test; if they line up, keep coaching from the parent data you already have.
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Open the last Vineland-3 you have, compare the language and motor age scores to the most recent Mullen, and note any gap bigger than six months for re-test planning.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Obtaining information about individual's abilities in specific areas of development can be used to monitor early developmental progress in young children with Down syndrome (DS). Two commonly used measures which assess specific areas of development are the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3rd Edition (VABS-3 parent interview). In DS, previous work found a positive association and moderate agreement between overall composite scores of these two measures. No study has explored the comparability of overlapping domains between the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview in young children with DS. AIM: This study examined the concurrent validity between overlapping language and motor domains from two sources of information, parent report (VABS-3 interview) and direct assessment (MSEL) in young children with DS. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-three young children with DS (14 males; mean age = 34.52, SD = 10.12, 13-48 months) completed the MSEL, which was administered by a trained examiner. Parents completed the VABS-3 interview remotely. Overlapping areas include language (receptive language; RL and expressive language; EL) and motor skills (fine motor; FM and gross motor; GM). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Median age equivalent (AE) scores were similar when comparing overlapping domains. Across all four domains, MSEL and VABS-3 AE scores were strongly to very strongly positively associated (rs range: 0.82-0.94; all p values < 0.0001). The level of agreement between the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview AE scores by domain ranged from moderate (FM, GM, and RL) to substantial (EL) agreement. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: At a young age, the MSEL and VABS-3 parent interview provide a coherent portrait of age-level functioning in language and motor domains. Findings can help inform clinicians and researchers in selecting assessment tools to monitor developmental progress in growing hybrid in-person and telehealth care models. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS?: Given the recent growth in hybrid clinical and research models that combine in-person and telemedicine visits, it is essential to better understand how direct in-person measures and remote/indirect parent report measures assessing language and motor skills relate to each other in young children with DS. This study evaluates concurrent validity using two different methods: parent report (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3rd Edition; VABS-3 interview) and direct assessment (Mullen Scales of Early Learning; MSEL), when measuring child developmental status in four overlapping domains (receptive language, expressive language, gross motor, and fine motor skills) in young children with DS. Findings suggest that for young children with DS, the VABS-3 parent interview provides similar age equivalent scores and developmental progress monitoring compared to the direct MSEL assessment.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2018.11.008