Cross-cultural adaptation and content assessment adaptive behavior assessment system intervention plan (ABAS-3) for parents and caregivers of children from 0 to 5 years old

*Correspondence: [e-mail].

Abstract

Background: Children with neurodevelopmental disorders and/or neurological conditions have adaptive behavior (AB) impairments that negatively impact their quality of life. AB refers to the conceptual, social and practical skills that make it possible to meet the paradigms of personal and social independence employed by the community. Such skills should be stimulated early, however, there is a lack of standardized intervention/stimulation protocols for early childhood.

Objective: To carry out the cross-cultural adaptation and verify evidence of content validity of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS-3) intervention plan for parents/caregivers of children between 0 and 5 years old.

Methods: 5 steps were taken to adapt 241 intervention strategies divided according to 10 domains (communication, pre-academic skills, use of community resources, health and safety, leisure, socialization, self-regulation, motor skills, self-care and home life): (1) translation of the intervention by a translator, (2) semantic, idiomatic and conceptual adjustments by a psychologist specializing in child development, (3) assessment of adaptation by two psychologists specializing in child development. Each of the 241 strategies was scored on a Likert scale from 0 (Strongly Disagree) to 3 (Strongly Agree) for semantic, idiomatic, and conceptual equivalence, (4) Adjustments in items without equivalence, (5) Analysis of the adequacy of the synthesis by 30 judges from the areas of health and education (3 judges per area) and two parents/caregivers of the target population, (6) Elaboration of the final version after analysis of the judges and target population.

Results: More than 70% of the strategies showed agreement between the judges regarding their complete conceptual, idiomatic and semantic adequacy with few adjustments. Of the 241 strategies, only 41 (17%) had a low content validity index, requiring modifications. 92% of the items presented semantic adequacy and 87% idiomatic and conceptual adequacy according to the analysis of parents/caregivers. The Kappa indices were 0.73, 0.68 and 0.68 for each aspect, respectively.

Conclusion: There was evidence of adequacy of the content, considering the semantic, idiomatic and conceptual equivalences of the ABAS-3 interventions, being an appropriate material for health professionals to use in the guidance of parents/caregivers in early childhood.

Publication History

Article published online:
12 May 2025