Assessment & Research

The development and validation of a questionnaire on parental involvement in the transition from kindergarten to primary school for children with developmental disabilities in China.

Hou et al. (2023) · Research in developmental disabilities 2023
★ The Verdict

Chinese BCBAs now have a short, valid parent form that spots who needs extra help before big school change.

✓ Read this if BCBAs helping Mandarin-speaking families of young kids with delays.
✗ Skip if Clinicians who only serve English-speaking families.

01Research in Context

01

What this study did

Hou et al. (2023) built a new 37-item parent form. It asks how Chinese moms and dads help their kids with delays move from kindergarten to first grade.

The team ran the usual math checks. The numbers showed the form is reliable and measures what it claims.

02

What they found

The PITKPS questionnaire passed every test. Clinicians in China can now use it to see how much parents take part in school change.

03

How this fits with other research

Stevens et al. (2018) also checked a parent form, the IPQ-R-ASD. That form only partly worked; control items clumped together. Yujia’s form did not have that problem, so it is ready to use right away.

Tse et al. (2021) made a teacher form for the same age group in Hong Kong. Using both forms together could give a full picture: parents report at home, teachers report at school.

Wang et al. (2022) and Nuebling et al. (2024) both adapted Western tools for Chinese or Persian kids. Yujia followed the same steps, keeping culture in mind.

04

Why it matters

If you serve Chinese families, you now have a quick parent scale. Give it at the spring IEP meeting. The score tells you where to boost parent training before fall transition. No tool like this existed for Mandarin speakers until now.

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Add the 37-item PITKPS to your intake packet; score it while you write the transition plan.

02At a glance

Intervention
not applicable
Design
other
Sample size
488
Population
developmental delay
Finding
positive

03Original abstract

BACKGROUND: At present, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments that can measure parental involvement in the transition from kindergarten to primary school of children with developmental disabilities (DD) in China. AIM: This study seeks to develop and validate the questionnaire on Parental Involvement in Transition from Kindergarten to Primary School (PITKPS) for children with DD in China. METHODS: A total of 241 parents of children with DD participated in Study 1, and another 247 parents participated in Study 2. In study 1, we used item analysis and exploratory factor analysis to screen items and explore the factor structure of the PITKPS questionnaire. In study 2, three types of validity were examined: construct validity; convergent and discriminative validity; and criterion-related validity. Internal consistency was used to measure reliability. RESULTS: The final version of the PITKPS questionnaire comprised 37 items that examined six factors. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the use of the six-factor model, and the results indicated that the questionnaire had good reliability and validity. CONCLUSIONS: The PITKPS questionnaire can be used as a valid tool to assess the involvement of Chinese parents in the transition from kindergarten to primary school of children with DD.

Research in developmental disabilities, 2023 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104494