Exploring convergent validity of a multidimensional language screening-tool translated for use with two-year-olds in a migration context in Austria.

INTRODUCTION

Implementations of the SPES-2 language screening in primary pediatric care demonstrated good predictive validity and feasibility with monolingual German-speaking two-year-olds. This study examines the construct validity of translated versions of the instrument in children growing up with first languages other than German in a migration context.

METHODS

SPES-2 includes a parent-reported questionnaire and a direct assessment of word comprehension by the pediatrician. The instrument was translated into the seven most common minority languages in Austria and implemented across a range of primary care practices. For analyses, data for the four most common languages (Serbian-Bosnian-Croatian (SBC), Turkish, Albanian, Romanian; total n = 1,232) were compared with a monolingual German-speaking reference group (n = 2,758). Wordbank data were used as a reference for language development in the respective home countries.

RESULTS

Correlations between outcomes from the translated parent-reported SPES-2 word lists and other language assessments were statistically significant and of moderate to high effect size, demonstrating convergent validity. Using German cut-offs, word list results for SBC, Albanian and Romanian were slightly lower than those in German, and substantially lower in the Turkish sample, that could only be partially explained by differences in parental education. Comparisons of Wordbank data for the SPES-2 wordlist in German with Croatian and Turkish showed almost identical results for German and Croatian but lower results for Turkish, indicating a possibly linguistically inadequate composition of the Turkish word list. Comparisons between the findings for total vocabulary in our study samples and Wordbank data demonstrated slightly higher results for German and Croatian, but lower results for the Turkish migrant group.

DISCUSSION: Brief reports by parents of migrant origin on their two-year-old children's total vocabulary (and other language aspects) within regular pediatric well-baby check-ups seem to sufficiently reflect child language development. Comparative findings for vocabulary development by children with Turkish as their first language in a migration context demonstrate the need for linguistic adaptations of the screening tool. The SBC translation of SPES-2 does not appear to require cultural adaptations. For all translations, predictive validity for later language disorders needs to be examined.