Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2000, pp. 179-183
© 2000 Society of Pediatric Psychology
Brief Report: Cautions Against Using the Stanford-Binet-IV to Classify High-Risk Preschoolers
1 The Citadel, 2 Early Intervention Research Institute, Utah State University, 3 Temple University
All correspondence should be sent to Conway F. Saylor, Department of Psychology, The Citadel, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29409. E-mail: conway.saylor{at}citadel.edu .
Objective: To explore concurrent and predictive validity of the Stanford-Binet: Fourth Edition (SB-IV) by comparing scores on the SB-IV with scores from the Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI) and later achievement scores in preschoolers at risk due to very low birthweight, and/or intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and other medical complications.
Methods: At ages 3,4, and 5, 92 preschoolers were tested with the SB-IV and BDI as part of an 8-year early intervention follow-up.
Results: The SB-IV and BDI concurrent correlations at ages 3, 4, and 5 were statistically significant (r =.73-.78, p <.0001), as were predictive correlations (r =.58-.85, p <.0001). However, the BDI and SB-IV failed to place the children in the same categories for intervention services. With the BDI as the comparison measure, SB-IV failed to detect 87% of the children who were "delayed" (by BDI) at age 3 and 50% of the "delayed" children at age 5.
Conclusions: Caution is recommended when using the SB-IV to assess high risk for early intervention eligibility.
Key words: Stanford-Binet:IV; NICU; preschool assessment; intraventricular hemorrhage; early intervention eligibility.