Use of the child development inventory to screen high-risk populations

This study examined the validity of a parent-report inventory, the Child De velopment Inventory (CDI), as a developmental screening instrument in high- risk toddlers and preschoolers. Seventy-six children, aged 15-70 months, we re assessed in a neonatal high-risk developmental follow-up clinic. The dat a included the completion of CDIs by parents/caregivers and developmental e valuations by a physician using either the Clinical Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic Auditory Milestone Scale (CAT/CLAMS) (15-35 months) or Slosson I ntelligence Test (36-70 months). Analysis revealed a good level of sensitiv ity (true "abnormals"-73%) and specificity (true "normals"-87%) for the CDI General Development score. The findings suggested that the CDI is a valid and useful screening instrument for high-risk infants.