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  4. Translation of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC) into Tagalog, Samoan, and Chuukese

Translation of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC) into Tagalog, Samoan, and Chuukese

November 9, 2021

Website Link  https://www.tuftschildrenshospital.org/the-survey-of-wellbeing-of-young-children/overview

The California-Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program (LEND) Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, directed the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)-funded Health Professional Support Program for Children with Zika Virus Infection in American Samoa and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Basin. After working with American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam and traveling to American Samoa, the CA-LEND team collectively identified that developmental screening tools were not available in languages that are commonly spoken in the islands. As a response to these needs, Douglas Vanderbilt, MD, MS, Alexis Deavenport-Saman, DrPH, and Patrice Yasuda, PhD facilitated translations and back-translations of the Survey of Well-being of Young Children (SWYC) into languages commonly spoken on these islands.

The SWYC is a comprehensive screening tool for children under 5 years. It  is freely available to any user, with no license required at the following website in English and in other languages:  https://www.tuftschildrenshospital.org/the-survey-of-wellbeing-of-young-children/overview. The SWYC contains a developmental domain on Developmental Milestones1, along with an autism- specific screener, the Parent's Observations of Social Interactions (POSI)2,3, an Emotional/Behavioral Domain, which contains the Baby Pediatric Symptoms Checklist (BPSC)4 and the Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PPSC)5, and a section on the child's family context.

Dr. Vanderbilt, Dr. Deavenport-Saman, and Dr. Yasuda, PhD obtained a license from the SWYC developers in order to translate the survey into different languages. They worked with a language translation organization to translate 4 age-specific forms (9, 18, 24, and 30 months) into 3 languages, which are commonly spoken in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam: Samoan, Tagalog, and Chuukese. The POSI is embedded into the SWYC form for autism specific-screening for the 18-, 24-, 30-month versions, which is partly why they focused on the translation of the SYWC for these ages.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recognizes the SWYC and noted in their policy statement on developmental surveillance and screening that providing additional developmental screening using validated tests is appropriate.6 The AAP also indicated that the screening tests in the SWYC on Developmental Milestones, BPSC, PPSC, and the POSI have acceptable psychometric properties.6

Click this link, to obtain any of the translated surveys in Tagalog, Samoan, or Chuukese:  CA-LEND: SWYC

The surveys are available on the SWYC website: SWYC Translations

References:

  1. Sheldrick RC, Marakovitz S, Garfinkel D, Carter AS, Perrin EC. Comparative Accuracy of Developmental Screening Questionnaires. JAMA Pediatr. 2020 Feb 17. PMID: 32065615.
  2. Smith, N, Sheldrick, R.C., Perrin, E.C. (2012). An abbreviated screening instrument for Autism  Spectrum Disorders. Infant Ment. Health J. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21356. E-pub July 26, 2012.
  3. Salisbury, L, Nyce, J.D., Hannum, C., Sheldrick, R.C., Perrin, E.C. (2018). Sensitivity and Specificity of 2 Autism Screeners Among Referred Children Between 16 and 48 Months of Age. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 39, 254-258. PMID: 29570569.
  4. Sheldrick, R.C., Henson, B.S., Neger, E.N., Merchant, S., Murphy, J.M., & Perrin, E.C (2012). The  Baby Pediatric Symptom Checklist (BPSC): Development and initial validation of a new social-  emotional screening instrument. Academic Pediatrics. 2013 13(1):72-80. PMID:23092547.
  5. Sheldrick, R.C., Henson, B.S., Merchant, S., Neger, E.N., Murphy, J.M., & Perrin, E.C (2012). The  Preschool Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PPSC): Development and initial validation of a new  social-emotional screening instrument. Academic Pediatrics, 12(5):456-67. PMID: 22921494.
  6. Lipkin PH, Macias MM, AAP Council on Children with Disabilities, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Promoting Optimal Development: Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders Through Developmental Surveillance and Screening. Pediatrics. 2020;145(1):e20193449

Additional publications on the SWYC subscales:

https://www.tuftschildrenshospital.org/The-Survey-of-Wellbeing-of-Young-Children/Publications-   Invited-Talks-and-Presentations