Background: Early childhood is the most important step throughout the lifespan and it is a critical period continuing to the end of 8-year-old. Mothers’ knowledge is one of the important aspects of child development. The goals of this study were to determine the situation of knowledge in Iranian parents about the concept and the importance of early childhood development (ECD) and determining the sources of parental knowledge about ECD from the perspective of parents and grandparents. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted based on the directional content analysis in 2016. The purposive sampling method is utilized to select 24 participants among parents and grandparents in Tehran. The inclusion criteria consisted of speaking in Persian and having a child or grandchild <3-year-old. Data were collected through four focus group discussions and four individual interviews. Results: Iranian parental knowledge about integrative ECD is not enough, their knowledge about motor development and speech and language are relatively better, about cognitive development is little and socialemotional is very little. They said parents and other caregivers influence the process of children's development. Parents’ knowledge resources about ECD included human resources, physical resources, virtual space, and the media. According to the majority of participants, “pediatricians are the most reliable source of parents’ knowledge about ECD” even though the main focus of pediatricians is on treating diseases, physical health, and growth of children. Conclusions: According to the results, the knowledge of Iranian parent is not enough about ECD; therefore, actions must be taken to increase their knowledge in these domains. Parents look for reliable and valid sources to enhance their knowledge and they rely the most on pediatricians in this regard. Therefore, more studies on assessing parents’ knowledge in community and the practical methods for knowledge promotion in this field is recommended.

Objective Bayley Scales of infant & toddler development is a well-known diagnostic developmental assessment tool for children aged 1-42 months. Our aim was investigating the validity & reliability of this scale in Persian speaking children. Materials & Methods The method was descriptive-analytic. Translation-back translation and cultural adaptation was done. Content & face validity of translated scale was determined by experts' opinions. Overall, 403 children aged 1 to 42 months were recruited from health centers of Tehran, during years of 2013-2014 for developmental assessment in cognitive, communicative (receptive & expressive) and motor (fine & gross) domains. Reliability of scale was calculated through three methods; internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, test-retest and interrater methods. Construct validity was calculated using factor analysis and comparison of the mean scores methods. Results Cultural and linguistic changes were made in items of all domains especially on communication subscale. Content and face validity of the test were approved by experts' opinions. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was above 0.74 in all domains. Pearson correlation coefficient in various domains, were >= 0.982 in test retest method, and >= 0.993 in inter-rater method. Construct validity of the test was approved by factor analysis. Moreover, the mean scores for the different age groups were compared and statistically significant differences were observed between mean scores of different age groups, that confirms validity of the test. Conclusion The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development is a valid and reliable tool for child developmental assessment in Persian language children.

This research was designed to identify the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-II) in Iranian children, in order to provide an appropriate developmental screening tool for Iranian child health workers. At first a precise translation of test was done by three specialists in English literature and then it was revised by three pediatricians familiar with developmental domains. Then, DDST-II was performed on 221 children ranging from 0 to 6 years, in four Child Health Clinics, in north, south, east and west regions of Tehran city. In order to determine the agreement coefficient, these children were also evaluated by ASQ test. Because ASQ is designed to use for 4–60 month- old children, children who were out of this rang were evaluated by developmental pediatricians. Available sampling was used. Obtained data was analyzed by SPSS software. Developmental disorders were observed in 34% of children who were examined by DDST-II, and in 12% of children who were examined by ASQ test. The estimated consistency coefficient between DDST-II and ASQ was 0.21, which is weak, and between DDST-II and the physicians’ examination was 0.44. The content validity of DDST-II was verified by reviewing books and journals, and by specialists’ opinions. All of the questions in DDST-II had appropriate content validity, and there was no need to change them. Test-retest and Inter-rater methods were used in order to determine reliability of the test, by Cronbach's α and Kauder-Richardson coefficients. Kauder-Richardson coefficient for different developmental domains was between 61% and 74%, which is good. Cronbach's α coefficient and Kappa measure of agreement for test-retest were 92% and 87% and for Inter-rater 90% and 76%, respectively. This research showed that Persian version of DDST-II has a good validity and reliability, and can be used as a screening tool for developmental screening of children in Tehran city.

Background : Development is a process that continues from childhood to death, and most developmental changes occur during childhood. UNICEF introduced early storybook-reading (ESR) and storytelling as part of child care indicators. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of book-reading to children and its relationship with early childhood development in Iran. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study conducted in Tehran April-May 2017. In total, 272 mothers of children aged 3-30 months, who were referred to health centers, were selected using a convenience sampling method. Exclusion criteria was scoring below the cutoff point of any developmental domains of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). ESR was assessed by checklist and child development was assessed by the ASQ. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The mean number of children’s books owned was 10.23±8.642, and 84.75% had at least 3 books. The average book reading, storytelling and singing duration for children was 10±9.65, 11.48±11.756, and 23.88 ±17.880 min per day, respectively. Average book reading, storytelling, and singing duration was significantly greater in children 18-30 months than <17 months. There was a significant relationship between the number of books and a child's age, mother's age, family income, income satisfaction, father's employment, and parents’ education. The score of communication domain in the ASQ questionnaire was significantly related to the number of books, duration of reading and storytelling, while problem-solving had a significant relationship only with the number of books (p˂0.05). Based on linear regression, child's age, income, and mother's and father's educational level were models for predicting the number of children's books (p=0.0001 for all). Conclusions: ESR was associated with some developmental domains of communication and problem-solving in the present study. Therefore, creation of ESR culture in Iranian families as an integral part of the life of children is necessary from birth.

Objectives: The present study aimed to adapt articulation assessment, a subtest of the diagnostic evaluation of articulation and phonology, and to determine its reliability and validity for Persian speaking children. Methods: The Persian version of articulation assessment (PAA) was administered to 387 children aged between 36 - 72 months, M (SD):53.7 (± 10.1) by month, after the adaptation process. A methodological study including test–retest reproducibility, score-rescore consistency and evaluating validity (through content, convergent and discriminative validity) was then carried out in order to determine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Results: Content validity ratio for Persian item’s content coverage, agreement image and syllable structure were 0.86 - 1, 0.92 and 0.94, respectively. Minimum content validity index of 0.93 exceeded in terms of relevancy, simplicity and clarity of instructions. The percentage agreement for the test-retest was 91.35-100% and the score-rescore analysis was 92.95-100%. The convergent validity was reasonable. The Persian Articulation Assessment’s mean scores for individuals with articulation disorders being significantly lower than those by normal children, showed discriminative validity (t = 7.245, df = 34, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The Persian version of Articulation Assessment is suggestive of a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating the articulation skills in Persian speaking children. Keywords: Articulation Assessment; Validity and Reliability; Persian; Children