Evaluation of the Turkish Version of the "Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional" in Identifying Children With Social-Emotional Problems

The applicability of the Age and Stages Questionnaires: Social Emotional (ASQ-SE; J. Squires, D. Bricker & E. Twombly, 2003) for Turkish children was examined. A total of 608 mothers completed the ASQ-SE's. Overall sensitivity and overall specificity were 83.7% and 89.9%, respectively. Test-retest reliability, assessed by classifying children as "at risk" or "not at risk" for social-emotional development, was 87%. The interrater reliability between mothers' and teachers' classifications was 83.6%. The results revealed that the psychometric properties of the ASQ-SE in Turkish children are comparable to those reported in Squires et al. Low levels of mothers' education, but not of the family income, were found to be linked to social-emotional problems. In the light of the findings it is concluded that the ASQ-SE can be utilized to screen the social emotional competencies and problems of Turkish children and to identify various risk and protective factors that affect social emotional development.