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Abstract
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The Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC) is a parent-reported scale developed to screen infants’ social communication, expressive language, and symbolic language skills. It is a reliable tool used in research and clinical settings to assess children with language and communication development difficulties. The scale has been shown to have adequate psychometric properties in various languages. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties, reliability, and validity of the Turkish version of the ITC. The sample group of the cross-sectional study consisted of 350 children aged 8-16 months. Two parent-reported instruments—the Turkish versions of the ITC and the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MB-CDI) were used to determine the concurrent validity of the subscales of the ITC. Parents completed the ITC and MB-CDI questionnaires face-to-face (n=28) or online (n=322). Internal consistency, construct validity, concurrent validity and test-retest reliability were measured to evaluate psychometric properties. Turkish version of the ITC showed good psychometric properties and the characteristics of a standardized measurement tool. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .917. Pearson correlation coefficients for the test-retest reliability of communication, expressive language, and symbolic component subscale scores were significant (p < 0.001). Given the absence of early language and social communication assessment tools for infants in our language, the Turkish version of ITC could support professionals in early screening for speech, language, and communication development and disorders in infants.
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