THE TOUCH INVENTORY FOR ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN - TEST-RETESTRELIABILITY AND MOTHER-CHILD CORRELATIONS

Objective. The Touch Inventory for Elementary-School-Aged Children (TI E) is a self-report screening assessment for tactile defensiveness. Th e purpose of this study was to examine test-retest reliability of the TIE and to evaluate agreement between children's TIE scores and scores that mothers gave their children on a modified version of the TIE. Me thod. Twenty-nine children, 6 to 12 years of age, were available for t he test-retest portion of the study and were assessed with the TIE wit h a 1-week interval between sessions. Their mothers completed a modifi ed version of the TIE. Results. Results indicated significant test-ret est reliability (r = .91, p < .001), although a more conservative Kapp a indicated only moderate agreement. The correlation between mothers' ratings and children's ratings was less significant (r = .56, p = .001 ), and Kappas were slight or fair, indicating considerable disagreemen t between mothers and children. Conclusion. These results suggest that using information from both mothers and children might provide a more complete picture of tactile defensiveness, but further research is ne eded before using a mother's assessment when the TIE is implemented as a standard procedure.